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THE 



MINER BOY AND fflS MONITOE; 

OR, 

THE CAREER AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



JO HIST ERICSSON 



THE ENGINEE] 



BY 

REY. P. C. HEADLEY, 

ATTTHOB or "the HEEO BOY," "JOSEPHINE," "WOMElf OF THU BIBtB," ETa 



NEW YORK : 

WILLIAM H. APPLETON, 92 GRAND STREET. 

1865. 



^p' 



• ^*>^9>C^ 



Enteked, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by 

WM. H. APPLETON, 

In the Clerk's Office of tlie District Court of tlie United States for the 

Southern District of New York. 



10 

THE ootrsisrs, 
T. W. H., AisD I. H. B. H., 

■rai3 

STORY OF A BLAMELESS BOTHOOD, 

ND A NOBLT TJ S E P TT L MANHOOD 

■WITH THE HOPE THAT IT 

MAr ENCOURAGE THEM AND MANY OTHER 

TO0NG HEARTS IN THEIE LI^E WORK', 

IS INSCRIBED 

BT 

THE AUTHOR, 



PREFACE. 



The authentic biographj given in this volume 
possesses unusual interest, both in regard to the dis- 
tinguished subject of it, and the naval work of the 
North in the great rebellion. "Without him, none can 
tell what would have been the condition of the civil 
conflict now. Descriptions of scenery, and inci- 
dents, with historical facts, have been introduced 
to lend interest and give clearness to the narrative. 

The sources of information were furnished by 
Captain Ericsson in part. Mrs. Banbury's " Travels 
in Sweden," an old history of the kingdom, and 
Abbott's " History of the Eebellion," were valuable 
works of reference. 

The career of a remarkable man^ whose ^nri- 



vailed success in his department of brilliant inven- 
tion, was due mainly to intense and persevering 
study, whose habits of sobriety and industry were 
formed in boyhood, is worthy of permanent record. 

It may be objected that failure has attended some 
of Captain Ericsson's expensive experiments upon his 
inventions. It would be strange, indeed, if notie 
of these, unequalled in number in the history of the 
world, as the work of a single genius, should fail 
of realizing all that the inventor hoped for, or even 
yet may result from them by improvement. Large 
and small, in all they amount to several thousands ; 
and every ocean, sea, and river of the civilized world, 
bear on their tides the creations of his skill. 

E'ot only so, but the imj)rovements which have 
been made by engineers and mechanics, and their 
inventions, suggested by Captain Ericsson's manifold 
contributions to science, are numerous. The great 
influence of his genius in such results cannot be esti- 
mated. The indebtedness of the world to his un- 
wearied activity in this general impulse given to its 
progress, lends peculiar interest to his name. 

It has been a pleasing task to collect, as far as 



possible, the records of such a life, and present them 
to our American youth. 

The pages in the last chapters, not directly con- 
nected with the personal history of Captain Ericsson, 
ai-e added to lend interest to the grand field of his 
inventions, and to give place, in part at least, here- 
after, to facts which will accumulate in the future 
of his eventful life. 

May the young reader, whether native-bom 
American or adopted citizen, be encouraged by it 
to make his life and memory a blessing to the 
race through honorable toil ; and exert an influence 
while living, and when, dead, pure and hallowed on 
those that labor with and after him, to elevate and 
save mankind. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEE I. 

FAoa 

rhe Victories of Peace— A rare History— Sweden— Its Early History— Na- 
tional Eeligion— Scenery— Curious Customs— Summer and "Winter- 
Old People — The birth-place of Captain Ericsson— His earliest Exhi- 
bitions of Genius— Jule-Afton, 13 

CHAPTER II. 

The Boy-Mechanic— The Bride's Reception— Count Platten— His Ship Ca- 
nal— The interview with Bemadotte— The Boy— Cadet— Engi- 
neer-Lieutenant, 89 

CHAPTER ni. 

The King's Surveyoi^— The young Lieutenant's Examination— The Appoint- 
ment— Romantic Service— Other Labors— Fulton and Ericsson— The 
Flame Engine— The "Wooden Railroad— The Locomotive— The Exciting 
Race, 45 

CHAPTER lY. 

Disappointment — ^Not Discouraged — The Invention doing good — The Steam 
Fire-Engine— A Fire— Another Conflagration— The Gold Medal— Va- 
rious Inventions— Ships— Steamers, 64 

1* 



10 



CHAPTEE V. 

BAQB 

The New "Wonder— Birds tie Inventor's Instructors— The Miniature Ship 
and Sea — The Noiseless Triumph, 64 

CHAPTEE VI. 

What is a Propeller ?— Building a Ship— The next Toy of genius— The 
"Flying Devil"— Unwise Great Men— The Excui-sion- The Disap- 
pointment, .... 71 

CHAPTEE VII. 

The Sublimely Confident Spirit— The Letter— The Eesult— The Mystery- 
Its Solution— The fresh display of "Wisdom by the Admiralty— The 
Engineering Corps — The Swede and his American Friends, . . .84 

CHAPTEE VIII. 

Captain Stockton and the Naval Department of the United States — The 
new "War- Vessel— The Privateer in New York Bay— The Eace— The 
marvels of the Victor, 91 

CHAPTEE IX. 

"What Captain Stockton says of the Ship— The Mysterious "Warrior— Tho 
Peaceful "Work of the Propeller— "What it is doing now, . . . .100 

CHAPTEE X. 

The Congressional Excursion on board the Princeton — The Captain and 
his Ship— Coronation Dmner— The Second Excursion— The Terrible 
Accident— The Cause of it 107 

CHAPTEE XI. 

A new Field of Invention— The "Wakeful and "Working Genius taught afresh 
by the Divine Law in Nature— The Caloric Engine— The "Wise Men 
of England again— The Present and Future of Motive Powers— The 
Propeller is a success! . , IIG 



CONTENTS. 11 



CHAPTEE XII. 

PAGB 

The Inventor's Inventions— He is sure of Success with his Caloric Engine — 
The Improvements — The Brilliant Achievements in America — ^The 
Trial-trip— The Engine a Worker Still— Its Eutnre 127 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Eebellion— Kevolutions in Sweden— Outbreaks in the United States— 
Our Army and Navy — Captain Ericsson when the Civil "War opened, . 133 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The "Merchant Prince"— His Interview with Captain Ericsson— The In- 
ventor and the Naval Department — The Mysterious Box — On the way 
to Washington — Its fortunes there, .... ... 158 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Great Decision- Ratified by Congi-ess- The Contract— Its strictness 
alarms the Money Kings— The Monitor is begun— The Builders and its 
Building— The Iron-works— The Strange Craft completed, . , .165 

CHAPTER XVI. 
What Visitors said of the Monitor — The Launch — A Memorable Day — The 
Completed Work— The Vessel manned and at Sea— The Voyage— The 
Naval Position— The Crisis, 179 

CHAPTER XVII. 
The Merrimac leaves her Moorings— The Jamestoivn and Torktown— The 
Naval Raid — The Fearful Struggle — Undying Heroism — The Ocean 
Scene of Destruction— The Closing Day, . . . . . . .186 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Monitor's Voyage — The Night Glimpse of Her an-ival by the Anxious 
Garrison— The Impressions of an Eye-witness— The Morning Scenes — 
The Awful Interest felt in the Battery — The Wonderful Providence — 
The Sabbath— The Combat, 205 



12 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

PAaa 

A Visit to the Dictator— First Impressions— The Leviathan in repose— The 
Turret : how it was moved from the Iron "Worts — The Machinery — The 
Officers' Quarters— The fighting qualities of the Dictator— Her Equip- 
ment and appearance at Sea, 225 

CHAPTER XX 
The Propeller in the Navy— The interesting variety of Names — The Pay 
of Officers and Men— The Stromholi— The new Cassabianca, . . .243 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Our Knowledge of the Sea— Curious Traditions- The "World of "Waters"- 
Robert Fulton and John Ericsson— The Future— Great Battles— The 
Mother's Lament, , . . . 26e 



CHAPTER I. 



The Victories of Peace— A rare History— Sweden— Its Early History— National 
Eeligion— Scenery— Curious Customs — Summer and Winter— Old People— 
The birth-place of Captain Ericsson — His earliest Exhibitions of Genius— 
Jule-Afton. 



^Y young reader, you have heard the truthful 
words, " peace has her triumphs no less renowned 
than war." They are quiet, like the work of God 
continually ; but no less sublime than the vic- 
tories of a just cause on the crimson field of 
battle. In the life of Captain John Ericsson you will 
have a very wonderful illustration of life's noiseless con- 
flicts and conquests. History can furnish nothing that 
surpasses it. AU lands and waters have the splendid 
memorials of triumphant invention, overcoming or using 
the forces of nature in the world's progress. But before 
we follow the conqueror — ^the miner-boy from his moun- 
tain seclusion to the great metropolis of the "Western Con- 
tinent — I will take you to his native land, and give you a 
glimpse of its scenes and scenery. Sweden ! what can 




14 LIFE OF JOHl'T EK1CSS0:N-. 

you tell me of this land of the cold IMortli — -the birth- 
place of maBj distinguished men — the early home of John 
Ericsson? 

"Who reigned over the Hehrew nation when Ciirist was 
horn? 

" The Romans," you answer. And they called that 
country Scandinavia, then a pagan realm like their own. 
The people gave it the name of Swerige, or Sweriket. 
Before the reign of Odin, the mighty conqueror of north- 
em Europe, it was known as Jothland, and the inhabitants 
called Jothar. From those words came Gothland and 
Goths. In the ancient time singular titles were often given 
to the kings, to indicate some peculiar fact in their history. 
About eight hundred years after the Saviour's advent, 
Olaf, the Woodcutter, was driven from the throne. In 
the year 830, St. Ascanius, a zealous rnonk, visited 
Sweden and preached the Roman Catholic faith in the 
presence of the king, Biorn, of the HiU. He made some 
converts from paganism ; but not imtil the year 1000, in 
the reign of Olaf, Kot-Konung, that is, the lap-king, be- 
cause he received royal homage while an infant, was 
heathenism fairly supplanted by Christianity, itself al- 
ready corrupt in form. Olaf was baptized, and made 
the new religion that of the State. Still idolatry of the 
past ages continued to linger among the wild valleys of 
Sweden. For three long centuries after, the Goths and 
Swedes quarrelled for the supremacy. But they became 



LEFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 15 

gradually more united, and in tlie latter part of the 
twelfth century were prosperous under Magnus Sodulas, 
or Barnloch, receiving the last title because he guarded 
so well the people's granaries. 

Before the Catholic faith prevailed, during the long 
ages, the people had a very singular way of crowning 
their kings. When a new prince was to take the vacant 
throne, he must come before it, and looking on the wait-, 
ing seat of royalty, go away and pei-form some deed of 
valor, then drink his libation from a skull, which was the 
evidence of his heroism. This entitled him to the sceptre. 
The Eoman pontiffs introduced the splendid ceremony of 
coronation. 

After bloody revolutions, G-ustavus Ericsson became 
the conqueror of the kingdom, and the inhabitants offered 
him the crown. This was at the commencement of 
the fifteenth century. You know at that time Martin 
Luther was making pope and cardinals tremble before his 
eloquent preaching of the truth. The great Rsformation 
was sweeping like a flood over the plains, around 
the papal altars. The king made inquiry into the new 
£:''h, and determined to let it come into Sweden just as 
Lather proclaimed it. The church already formed, and 
called after the converted and wonderful monk, Lutheran, 
had its own peculiar forms. It was a little Catholic still 
in ritual ser\'ice, for to reform the old system was all he 
hoped to do. 



16 LIFE OF JOHlf EKICSSON. 

In 1593 the Lutheran church was declared, by the 
Synod of Upsal, to be the State religion. You know 
what this is? The church is joined to, and becomes de- 
pendent on, the State. The royal support is given to it. 
It will be better understood when I tell you what the laws 
of Sweden required. A subject was banished if he 
changed his religion. The same penalty was inflicted 
upon any person who introduced a new system of belief. 
Strangers could not worship in any other forms but the 
Lutheran in public. It is true that foreign ministers and 
their families were let alone, because it would not do to. 
touch the officers of other royal courts. The expansive 
mind of Ericsson, as you will learn, preferred the larger 
liberty of this Republic, although great changes have 
occurred in the progress of Christianity in his native land. 
Whenever Christianity is made to lean on the civU arm 
for support, receiving gifts and honor from the State, it 
becomes formal. No nation can be truly prosperous with- 
out the power of the church, the influence of Christian 
people and worship. But the divine institution should 
never be married to the State. We glory in the separate 
existence of the two in our country. Like Kevolutionary 
France, so often rolling her garments in her own blood, 
we shall be wrecked without a living Protestant church ; 
still it is, and must be, independent of the patronage of 
the Government. The Lutheran worship in Swede q is 
too lifeless, and the spiritual good of the people is neglect- 



LIFE OF JOHN EFJCSSOISr. 17 

ed in the routine of prescribed public duties. The clergy 
are, many of them, lovers of money and ease. 

Norway was united to Sweden in 1814, and in a 
strange way. Monarchs are usually royal rollers 
When England and Russia entered the coalition against 
Napoleon, the autocrat agreed to give Sweden Norway, 
if she would join them. After an indignant protest, and 
some fighting, the gift was secured. 

The population of the kingdom is divided into four 
classes : the nobility numbering 11,000 ; the state clergy, 
of whom there are 15,000 ; the burghers, or mechanics 
and others who hold property to a considerable amount, 
whose number is 70,000 ; and the peasants or poorest 
class, who form the largest part of the population, 
2,800,000, The Government is a limited monarchy ; 
the king is the state, having well-nigh supreme power, 
notwithstanding his council. When he goes to Norway, 
a regency of five high ofiicials rules till he returns. 
When he leaves both the countries, five more are added 
from Norway to the king's representatives in power. 
Charles XW., the son of Oscar I., and grandson of Ber- 
nadotte, is now the sovereign. And within the last half 
century very great progress has been made in the freedom 
of religious belief and worship, in temperance, and in 
every department of popular reform and progress. 

Nature is wonderfully varied in her aspect in Sweden. 
The scenery is constantly changing before the delighted 



18 LIFE OF JOHK EKICSSOA'. 

traveller's eye. Let us imagine that we are in one of the 
broad, hard roads of Sweden, which wind always in a 
serpentine course among the summits, travelling toward 
the romantic home of John Ericsson, of which I will tell 
you more soon. Now, look upward to the dark, over- 
hanging rocks, forming a gigantic, threatening roof ! It 
is grand and gloomy ; but you need not fear. The loose 
fi-agments are removed, and solid granite arches your 
way. Glance down to that sweet meadow-land smiling 
on the opposite side of the highway, right in the face of 
the stern, unchanging sentinel. But granite pile and 
verdant field are gone, and we are in the deep forest of 
pines. The solid pathway is fairly walled in with the 
dense and sombre woods. How still and solitary ! A 
belt of blue sky is above, and that is all beside the 
funereal shadow and music of the pine trees. See the 
sunlight yonder ! Beautiful surprise ! Green fields and 
grazing flocks greet the vision. It is like passing at a 
single step from the cemetery to the garden — from night 
to morning. Curiously stand the cottages on those sand- 
hills rising from the rural scene, on the brows of which 
" the wind agitates a few scattered pines." A bold and 
bald mountain leans against the sky just beyond. "We 
will turn aside and climb to its top. Is it not an im- 
pressively beautiful prospect now ? The vast forest — the 
embosomed, placid lake — the clearings, on which nestle 
hamlets and cluster flocks and herds, with no sound of 



LIFE OF JOHN- EKIOSSOW. 19 

railroad cars or puffing steamers to break the deep 
silence — make a scene we shaU never forget. In the 
winter it is aU evergreen woods and dazzling snow, re- 
lieved by the homes of the people half-buried in the 
silver mantle. 

Two things you will admire in Sweden if you are like 
a boy I know ; there are no venomous snakes, or reptiles 
of any kind, and it almost never thunders. There are 
other things you would enjoy. The excellent fishing 
which the rapid and abundant streams afford, and the 
custom of riding the small horses>or driving them before 
the sledges, which is common among the very children ; 
and the skating and coasting for more than half the year. 

You will be amused with the national dress stiU seen 
in Sweden, which was established by lav*^ in 1777, to pre- 
vent extravagance and luxury. The men, according to 
the statute, must wear a close coat, wide breeches, a gir- 
dle round the waist, a round hat, strings in the shoes, and 
over all, a cloak. The color was black. The women 
could wear a black robe, puffed gauze sleeves, colored 
sash and ribbons. The court dress required white gauze 



It seems quite ludicrous for kings and their council- 
lors to make laws regulating a lady's toilet. But the 
object was to cultivate simplicity in all the habits of the 
people, while at the same time there was really no small 
degree of taste displayed. • 



20 LIEE OF JOHISr EEICSS0I7, 

The winters are long and bitterly cold — ^that is to saj, 
generally so ; and this is the kind the people prefer. To 
show you how they feel about it, listen to a conversation 

Tvlrs. B , a traveller, had with a Swede. Sh^ went 

to the kingdom to spend the winter. 

" I hope, madam, we shall have a good winter." 

" What do you mean by good ? " 

" Plenty of snow and ice. The frost should come 
first ; then the ice, and then frost again, and so on. Good, 
when it — what do you caU this ? " (moving a creaking boat 
over the floor.) 

'' Crackles f" 

'■' Yes, that is it. When the snow cracJcles from Oc- 
tober to April" 

The sledges fly, and the bright Aurora Borealis, or 
the moon, light them over the hiUs and plains ; for the 
sun rises in midwinter at 10 o'clock, and sets about 2 
o'clock in the afternoon. Short days, you will say. Yes, 
but the people make day of night, as you wiU learn in 
the story of our Swedish engineer. 

The summers are brief enough, and very warm. 
Spring and autumn are scarcely thought of as such, in 
the sudden change to and from the vernal or aixtumnal 
period. Soon as the deep covering of snow and ice is 
removed by the heat of the sun the flowers appear, and 
the verdure hastens to perfection. A few months of 
brightness and bloom pass, and again, almost without 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 2.1 

warning, the wild storms of sleet and snow come down 
from the rugged mountains. They not unfrequentlj beat 
upon the gi-een leaves- of the beech and birch, mantling 
with white the solemn pines and firs, till the buried earth 
in the dim air seems haunted with unearthly forms abroad 
on hillside and in the valley. The air is sharp and pure. 
Sweden is a very healthy country. The hardy, honest, 
staid people, live to a hale old age. In 1790 a census 
showed that during ten years there had been two persons, 
one of whom was 127, the other 122 years of age ; forty- 
one between 111 and 120 ; sixty-seven between 106 and 
110 ; three hundred and forty between 100 and 108 ; five 
thousand five hundred and seventy-six over 90 years old. 
What other nation can show such a health table ? 

" Isn't that remarkable ? I should think people would 
go from other countries to live in Sweden," exclaimed a 
lad of a dozen years when I told this story. 

" Yes," was the answer, " if long life is the only 
object of desire. The Dalecarlians are seldom sick, and 
very vigorous to an advanced age. But they live with 
great simplicity. Their food is often nats ground with 
bark, and the plainest soups. The people of this country 
die young, because we live too fast. We eat too much, 
and too great a variety, and are always ^'?^ a liurry. The 
aged people are becoming fewer apparently every year." 

This reply made the young gentleman look sober, 
throw back his rounding shoulders, and, I hope, im 



22 LIFE OF JOIiN EKICSS024. 

pressed bim with the guilt and peril of ahtising even the 
body. And here I will add a very lively ^sketch of 
" Rural life in Sweden " in summer time, by a modern 
traveller, and a great American poet, Longfellow. 

' There is something patriarchal still lingering alout 
rural life in Sweden which renders it a fit theme for song. 
Almost primeval simplicity reigns over that northern 
land — almost primeval solitude and stillness. You pass 
out from the gate of the city, and as if by magic, to a 
wild Tv^oodland landscape. Around you are forests of 
fir — overhead hang the long fan-like branches, trailing 
with moss, and heavy with red and blue cones — under 
foot is a carpet of yellow leaves, and the air is v/arm and 
balmy. On a wood bridge you cross a little silver stream, 
and anon come forth into a pleasant and sunny land of 
farms ; v/ooden fences divide the adjoining fields. Across 
the road are gates, which are opened by troops of children. 
The peasants take off their hats as you pass. You sneeze, 
and they cry ' God bless you.' The houses in the villages 
and smaller towns are built of hewn timber, and for the 
most part painted red. The floors of the taverns are 
strewn with the fragrant tips of fir boughs, j > In many 
towns there are no taverns, and the peasants take turns 
in receiving travellers. The thrifty housewife shows you 
into the best chamber, the walls of which are hung round 
wlih. rude pictures from the Bible, and brings you her 
heavy silver spoons — an heir-loom — to dip the cm-died 



I 



LIFE OF JOHN- ERlCSSOiT. ^3^ 

milk from the pan. You have oaten cakes baked some ' 
montlis before ; or bread witb anise seed and coriander /■ 
in it, perhaps a little pine bark. Meanwhile the sturdy 
farmer has brought his horses from the plough, and har- 
nessed them to your carriage. Solitary travellers come 
and go in uncouth one-horse chaises. Most of them have 
pipes in their mouths, and, hanging round their necks in 
front, leather wallets, in which they carry tobacco, and 
the great bank notes of the country, as large as your two 
hands. You meet, also, groups of Dalecarlian peasant- 
women, travelling homeward, or townward, in pursuit of 
work. They walk barefooted, carrying in their hands 
their shoes, which have high heels in the hollow, and 
soles of birch bark. Frequent, too, are the village 
churches, standing by the roadside, each in its little gar- 
den of Gethsemane. In the parish register great events 
are doubtless recorded. Some old king was christened 
or buried in that church ; and a little sexton with a rusty 
key shows you the baptismal font or the coffin. In the 
churchyard are a few flowers, and much green grass ; 
and daily the shadow of the church spire, with its long 
tapering fmger, counts the tombs representing a dial plate 
of human life, on which the hours and minutes are the 
graves of men. The stones are large and fiat and low, 
and perhaps sunken like the roofs of old houses. On 
some are armorial bearings, on others the initials of the 
poor tenants, vvith a dale, as on the roofs of Dutch cot- 



24: LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

tages. Nor must I forget the suddenly changing seasona 
of the northern clime. There is no long and lingering 
spring, unfolding leaf and blossom one by one ; no long 
and lingering autumn, pompous with many colored leaves, 
and the glow of Indian summer. But summer and wiu" 
ter are wonderful, and pass into each other. The quail 
has hardly ceased piping in the corn, when winter from 
the folds of trailing clouds, sows ])roadca3t over the land 
snow, icicles, and rattling liaiL The days wane apace. 
Ere long the sun hardly rises ;\bove the horizon at all. 
The moon and the stars shine through the day ; only, at 
noon, they are pale and wan, and in the southern sky a 
red fiery glow, as of sunset, burns along the horizon, and 
then goes out, and pleasantly under the silver moon, and 
under the silent, solemn stars, ring the steel shoes of the 
skaters on the frozen sea, and voices, and the sound of 
bells. And now the northern lights begin to burn, faintly 
at first, like sunbeams playing in the waters of the blue 
sea. Then a soft crimson gloAV tinges the heavens. 
There is a blush on the cheek of night. The colors 
come and go, and change from crimson to gold, from 
gold to crimson. The snow is stained with rosy light. 
Twofold from the zenith, east and west, flames a fiery 
sword and a broad band passes athwart the heavens, like 
a summer sunset. Soft, purple clouds come sailing over 
the sky, and through tliose vapory folds the v/inking stars 
shine white as silver. With such pomp as this is merry 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 25 

Christmas ushered in, though only a single star heralded 
the first Christmas. And in memory of that day the 
Swedish peasants dance on straw, and the peasant girls 
throw straw at the timbered roof of the hall, and for 
evfery one that sticks in a crack shall a groomsman come 
to their wedding. 

" And now the glad, leafy midsummer, full of blossoms 
and the song of niglitingales, is come ! Saint John has 
taken the flowers and festival of heathen Balder ; and in 
every village there is a May-pole fifty feet high, with 
wreaths, and roses, and ribbons, streaming in the wind, 
and a noisy weathercock on top, to tell the village whence 
the wind cometh and whither it goeth. The sun does not 
set till ten o'clock at night ; and the children are at play 
in the streets an hour later. The windows and doors are 
all open, and you may sit and read till midnight without 
a candle. O, how beautiful is the summer night which 
is not night, but a stmless, yet unclouded day, descending 
upon earth with dews, and shadows, and refreshing cool- 
ness ! How beautiful the long, mild twilight, which, like ^ 
a silver clasp, unites to-day with yesterday ! How beau- ( 
f iful the silent hour, when morning and evening thus sit ] 
together, hand in hand, beneath the starless sky of mid- / 
night ! 

" From the church tower in the public square the bell 
tolls the hour, with a soft musical chime ; and the watch- 
man, v,'hose watchtov/er is the belfry, blows a blast in hia 
^ 2 



2r) LITE OF JOHN EJSICSSON. 

horn for each stroke of the hammer ; and four times to 
the four corners of the heavens, in a sonorous voice, he 
chants — 

' Ho ! watchman, ho ! 

Twelve is the clock ! 

God keeps our town 

From fire and brand 

And hostile hand ! 

Twelve is the clock ! ' 

From his swallow's nest in the belfry he can see the sun 
all night long ; and further north the priest stands at his 
door in the warm midnight, and lights his pipe v/ith a 
common burning-glass. " 

Among the great men of Sweden are the splendid 
names of Gustavus Adolphus, the gifted and excellent 
sovereign, who was the friend of the Protestants, and 
Linnseus, the prince of botanists. There are others in 
science and in the state which would honor any land. 
No Swedish name of modern times is more Avidely 
known than that of John Ericsson. "Whether the king 
Ericsson, three centuries ago, was a distant relative or 
not, we cannot tell. But make a journey over the sea to 
the SOI them part of Sweden, called Gothland. In the 
province of "VYermeland, or Vermcland, as it is also 
spelled, are romantic mountains, in whose sides are mines 
of iron. Sweden has many deep, dark caverns, often 
several hundred feet in depth, Avhich the miner has du^' 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 27 

after gold, silver, and iron. There, before a raili'oad was 
built, or a steamer ploughed river or ocean, lived quiel]y 
and prosperous in his business, a proprietor of some of 
these subterranean treasures. His name was Ericsson. 
He had a son John, born in sunny June in 1803. When 
only three or four years old he showed genius for draw- 
ing ; surprising his friends with the childish exhibitions 
of his mental bias. Though genius without patient study 
and high qualities of character, is worse than useless — a 
dangerous possession, John was evidently endowed witli 
rare gifts. Providence had given him a remarkable in- 
tellect, and a prominent place in the world's progress and 
a nation's deliverance from threatened ruin. 

While other children of his age v\'ere playing with ' 
the common toys, he was watching the machinery of tlie 
mines, and with pencil or penknife was marking or cut- 
ting his little copies of what he had seen. , Those mining ,\ 
localities are very singular places. When you \isit them, 
your way among gloomy summits will open into a se- 
cluded valley or terrace of mountain-side, and right 
before you stand the grim flaming iron works. Near by 
are the mouths or openings of the mines, through wliicli 
the valuable ore is sent to the light of day. Around the 
" works " are the humble habitations of the workmen. 
Half a century ago you might have seen John, a quiet 
child of half a dozen years, watching the movements of 
machinery contrived by the finest engineers, and prying 



28 LIFE OF JOHN EFJOSSOH. 

into tlie meclianism. Then with, book and pencil, sitting 
down in the furnace-light, he would study the diagrams 
till he had mastered the principles they presented to his 
inquiring mind. Although he cared not much for the 
common pastimes of young persons, he kept and enjoyed 
of course, with everybody else in Sweden, " Jule-Afton ;" 
pronounced Yule-Afton. 

And what is that ? you ask. The word means Christ- 
mas Eve ; also used to express Christmas supper. And 
Christmas, you may know, is from Christ-mass— a Cath- 
olic service on the 25th of December, which, it is sup- 
posed, is the time when at dead of night the sky and hiUs. 
of Judea were fdled with heavenly music, because Jesus 
was born ; and a strange, glorious radiance flooded aU the 
landscape. 

In Sweden, and everywhere in Christian lands where 
it is regarded, it is merely a holiday. If there is public 
worship, it comes in as a ceremony rather than a loving 
remembrance of the Saviour, the Great Benefactor of the 
world, the suffering Redeemer of a disloyal race. 

Nowhere is this anniversary more generally observed 
than in Wermeland, the native province of John Ericsson. 
It is ushered in by a short religious service at G o'clock ' 
in the evening. Then look toward the market-place. 
Over the crisp snow the people are moving from their 
homes. Every lady has a lantern carried before her by 
an attendant, or in her own hand. No woman is seen 



LIFE OF JOHN EETCSSON. "A^ 

abroad after dark without one. The windows of the 
houses are ablaze with the Christmas flames. Enter the 
market, and amid the curious variety of articles for the 
season stand the yule trees, the little pines and firs, you 
know for what use. But how still the crowd is — nobody 
talks or laughs loud. This is the habit in Sweden. Then 
comes a supper of grot and lufej fish ; the former boiled 
rice, milk, and sugar, and the other dish, a j(?s% prep- 
aration which has a very strong odor. After, supper the 

children kiss their parents' hands. Mrs. B , who 

was there only a few years since, met one of John's 
"Wermeland countrymen, who said of Jule-Afton : 

" It is a joyful time for beasts and birds." 

" Beasts and birds ? " 

" Yes, that it certainly is. At harvest time the yule- 
sheaf is put unthreshed away at every farmhouse, and on 
Christmas eve it is hung out on a high pole near the farm- 
er's door for the famishing birds to make their Jule-Afton. 
If the yule-sheaf were not seen there, the people would 
believe that the farmer would have a poor season. They 
would think him a hard man, and not like to help him." 

" And pray how do they manage for the beasts?" 

" They give a double portion to them, and say : ' Eat 
well my good beasts, and tlxrive well, for this is Jule- 
Afton.' And the yule-board (or table) is spread with 
twice the usual food." 

The morning comes, but not the daylight. It is six 



30 LITE OF JOHN EETCSSON. 

o'clock, and the stars are clear and sparkling. The 
houses are illuminated, and the old and young are hasten- 
ing wrapped in furs to the churches. These are really 
trimmed with candles, as ours sometimes are with ever- 
greens, making a very novel appearance ; the rows and 
rings of light almost bewilder you. 

This Jule-Otte, that is, Christmas morning, is from 
three o'clock to six ; and the Otte song is the early re- 
ligious service. In the country around John's home the 
rural inhabitants go twenty miles often to a church to at- 
tend the Otte song. The sledges leave their home at mid- 
night, and often race on the return, because it is believed 
whoever is first back again will have the earliest harvest, 
or the soonest marry if he be single. The races over icy 
hills and plains are sometimes dangerously swift. And 
then the music of the bells on the cold au' lulls the lady 
into sleep, from which, if not careful, she never wakens 
on earth. 

Look into the houses after the Jule-Otte song is over. 
A strange being walks in with masked face, a cap run- 
ning up to a point, goggle eyes, and laden arms. It is 
the bearer of Jule-Klapper, or Christmas presents. To 
the house of a maiden who expects to be a bride soon, he 
has a barrel brought and rolled on the floor, which a 
grocer has sent. In it, under nice parcels of spice, «Ssc., 
are beautiful presents from her lover. 

Such is Christmas time in Wermeland. But these 



LIFE OF JOHiSr EEICSSON. 31 

scenes were not half so exciting to John at eight years 
of age, as to lads generally at fifteen. He loved better his 
pencil, and a fine piece of machinery to watch by the 
hour. 

There are two other festivals universally observed in 
the country of Ericsson. The first is May-day, when the 
return of summer is hailed, for this is the season in a 
region where vernal and autumnal days are few. The 
young people erect a pole and dance around it, building 
great fires in the open air to indicate the advent of warm 
weather. The rejoicing is often continued all midnight. 

Another holiday is at midsummer, when the heat is the 
most intense, and the harvest ripening. There is a re- 
ligious service in the evening, and every manifestation 
of joy celebrates this brief period of "Sol's" welcome 



CHAPTER n. 



The Boy-Mechanic— The Bride's Eeception— Count Flatten— His Ship Canal— 
The interview with Bernadotte— The Boy — Cadet— Engineer— Lieu- 
tenant, 



I T is wonderful how the young stadent of great and 
small revolving wheels, engine strokes, and levers, 
advanced in his career, already chosen by his very 
taste and progress in mechanical science. Day 
after day, and year after year, he hangs around 
the miners who work the magnificent machinery, and 
make the iron shaft, the busy arms and fingers of wood 
.and steel, his instructors. 

He is nine years of age, and see him busy as a bee all 
alone. By him is a knife, gimlet, and pieces of wood. 
Work, work, is the history of John, till he stands smiling 
with the delight of success over a complete miniature 
sawmill in " running order." Nine years old, and the 
builder of a mill finished in every part ! 

" What ! a mill just like a large one, and which if the 



LIFE OP JOHN ehicsson. 33 

wheels and saw had been many times greater, would have 
made the logs into boards and timber ? " 

" Not only was this true, but it was a beautiful lit- 
tle structure — ^firm, neat, and tasteful. It is doubtful 
whether a child ever before wrought out so complicated 
and yet perfect a specimen of mechanism." 

But go to his humble room, and take that plain^ yet 
well-filled portfolio. It is a bundle of drawings. There 
are circles and squares, curves and straight lines ; dia- 
grams of great variety. You look at them carefully, and 
it is evident they mean more than " child's play." They 
are all plans of machinery. The mines and mills are 
fairly mapped out on those scraps of paper, 

John has made his own instruments with which the 
beautiful work was done. Some of them are entirely 
new ; the invention of his 0"^vn prematurely active brain. 
He has become so absorbed in the fascinating study of 
mechanics, that he scarely notices the crowd pressing 
toward a habitation not far distant, in the clear, cold 
evening air. He is tracing dark lines on the smooth sur- 
face before him. It is a bride's reception. The custom 
in Sweden is, to have the lady who is married, after the 
ceremony, attended by two marshals with lanterns, to 
show herself on the balcony or in the window, till the 
people are satisfied. The marshals lift and lower their 
lanterns, and waive them, to shed every possible light 
upon the pale, and yet blushing bride. There she stands, 
2* 



34 LIFE OF JOHN ESICSSOX- 

the silent object of inspection, turning Iier face and tlieii 
her back ; at length the last curious spectator goes, cast- 
ing a backward glance to be sure the seeing is complete. 
Now she glides away, and sinks in the chair of her cham- 
ber, weary, and glad that the ordeal is over. 

The boy at ten is married with loving heart, and the 
maturity of manhood in thoiight, to clear-«yed, fair, and 
faithful science — never deceitful, but always rewarding 
with the radiant smile of her highest earthly success the 
patient, devoted friend. Already John's marvellous at- 
tainments had reached the ears of the great men of 
Sweden. Count Platien sought an interview Avith the 
boy. The nobleman sits down beside the • stout, fine- 
looking lad, and turns over the dravv^ings, looks at the 
"tools" he invented and made, and at the saw-mill, and 
questions him about them all. John answers promptly, dis- 
tinctly, and in a few words. Then handing the diagrams 
back to him, he remarked with impressive earnestness of 
interest in what he had seen : " Gontinxie as you have com- 
menced, and you will one day prodioce something extraor- 
dinary." 

I must tell you something about Admii-al Plat|enj for 
he had this title also. He was the engineer of that won- 
derful achievement of skUl, the Gottenberg Canal, inti- 
mately associated, as you will learn, with the miner boy's 
success. It connects by water the capital of Sweden on 
the Baltic, with the North Sea, three hundred miles apart, 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 35 

and yet not more than fifty miles are canal. The rest of 
the distance is a series of lakes and rivers. At the Cata- 
ract of TrSilhatt^i where Lake Werner has its wild out- 
let in the river Gotha, the scene, to the trav eler, s nrpasgea^ 
any thingof the kind iii Jh,§_woricL The river Gotha 
empties into Lake Hielmar. 

The rushing stream plunges dovm a precipice one : 
hundred feet in height into a chasm of fearful depth and 
wildness, by four successive leaps over battlements of ■ 
rock. The Channel of the Gotha had been cleared for ■ 
navigation up to the magnificent barrier, of the Falls, ; 
which thundered defiance in the face of kings and subjects. 1 
Charles XLE. employed Polham, the distinguished engi- 
neer, to construct a canal, if possible, around the cataract. 
But there stood the mountain of granite, and to get through 
it was decided to be impossible. The enterprise was 
therefore abandoned, till Coimt Platfbn's genius hurled 
back with the thunder of blasting granite, and' the sound 
of the busy hundreds of mechanics, nature's defiance. He 
bearded the giant, for ages unmolested in his den of thun- 
der and foam. TroUhatt^dlja^ or Trollhatta, means sorcsr- 
or's manor. Ti*oil is the gigantic conjuror, who, the 
sivperstitious believed^ had his home here, and performed 
his mad antics with the flood. His hat lies near — an im- 
mense rock, hollowed or scooped out, making quite an 
apartment. Into this visitors go, and write their names 
all over the inside of the hat. 



36 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

When Carl Johan, that is, Bernadotte, King of 
Sweden, was there, many years since, with his roya] 
company, he entered the covering of the old giant's head. 
Eight in the rapids below the cataract is an island, 
around which the waters boil and roar fearfully. There 
is a story that a tailor's lady-love refused to marry him 
unless he would sit on that spot of land thus fearfully 
encircled by the furious tides, till he had made a pair 
of pantaloons. You must understand that like looking 
from a high and narrow bridge, or the brow of a preci- 
pice, the dash and roar around the rocky foothold would 
turn with dizziness the heads of most people. Indeed a 
sentimental Frenchman was so overcome, that he fainted. 

But the poor tailor was deeply in love, and was resolved 
to have a fair trial of the sorcery of roaring Ti<j11, rather 
than lose the idol of his heart. So away he went, with 
cloth, buttons, thread and needles, and getting safely over to 
it, commenced his work. He thought of her, then glanced 
with a thrill of terror at the boiling eddies around him, 
and again plied his needle. The hours wore away, and 
the excitement became unendurable. The fascination 
often felt in similar places, seized him ; and rising, he 
plunged, " pants" and all, into the angry current, and wag 
seen no more ! 

Should you travel on the Grand Canal, you wiU not 
forget the story when you get to the wave-rocked seat of 
grim and ancient TfoH. Such are the strange and even 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOJS". 37 

Wicked superstitions and perverted affections of the human 
mind and heart apart from pure religion. As the steamer 
urges its way up the waters, you see in the distance what 
seems to be a white cloud hanging from the mountain side. 
But when nearer you hear the roar of a cataract, and 
then behold the deocending flood which from afar was a 
snowy crown of the rocky battlement. The river is now 
angry and crested before you. Up, up the dizzy height 
you gaze, and wonder how your boat can get to the peace- 
ful lake beyond it. Massive gates open, the steamer 
passes in, and they are shut. The first lock is entered. 
The water flows into it, surging back and forth, but all 
the time lifting the burden higher. After reaching the 
highest point which could be secured by this terrace, the 
steamboat goes through other gates into a 'similar lock. 

If yx)U have seen the canal-locks, you will comprehend 
the marvellous mountain climbing. Y can imagine 
large chambers cut in the side of the mountain, the floor 
of one on a level with the top of another below, till these 
rooms, hke the stories of a house, reach from the base to 
the brow of the summit. Then let the steamer pass in, 
the water flowing into the lowest chamber, close be- 
hind the boat through the gates, and let in water above, 
till it lifts the burden upward to the bottom of the next 
lock. The vessel passes in, gates again shut behind 
it, and on the swaying flood it continues to rise. Thus 
it is upborne along the majestic pile of massive rock. 



38 LIFE OF JOHN EKICSS02T. 

Scaling the miglity walls of TrCH's manor on these 
gigantic stairs, the silent navigator rises, nntil the bright 
lake beyond is gained ; and away, puffing and dashing 
aside the spray, it glides, as if exulting to be free again 
Think of twenty svich locks, at one spot, in this gran<l 
canal ! "What an engineer, and what engineering, to thus 
overcome natural barriers, which seemed to defy the 
genius and power of man ! 

Near the beautiful Lkice llotala, and extensive iron 
works, lie the ashes of Admiral Flatten. The very puff 
of the steamer along his marvellous path of travel, salutes 
his grave in its long marches. Think of three hundred 
miles of such varied scenery — rivers, lakes, miles of deep 
excavations through solid rock, mountains terraced with 
locks, looking like " the wards of a giant's key," combin- 
ing the sublime and beautiful in every possible variety 
and degree. 

Along the coast of the Baltic Sea, called Skaregard, 
which means a place of rocky islands, the ship canal has 
its highway for a great distance among rugged little 
isles and huge boulders. The channels are marked with 
various signals. Sometimes a pole, then a half-sunken 
rock painted white, is the sign of peril — silently admonish- 
ing of the danger of a deviation from the channel cleared 
and marked out for the traveller. Is it not an impressive 
illustration of our moral pathway through time to eternity ? 

Like all highly-gifted '. and noble natures, Admiral 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 39 

Flatien thought and acted fo?' himself. "When he was sure 
a thing was right and possible, he went forward with it, 
in the face of opposition. The nobility of Sweden, and 
the people generally, opposed as chimerical the project 
of this Grand Ship Canal across a kingdom and over 
mountains. He remembered the story of Columbus, of 
Galileo, and others, who reached a shining goal of suc- 
cess through scorn and even bitter persecution. He died 
viceroy of Sweden, acknowledged to be one of the greatest 
men in northern Europe. 

Count Platten w;as on familiar terms of friendship 
with Bernadotte, King of Sweden, who, you will recollect, 
was Marshal of France under Napoleon Bonaparte. He 
was called to the throne of the kingdom in 1818. He 
• placed implicit confidence in Count Platten, admiring 
much his rare ability, and th-e monuments of his engineer- 
iug attainments. The encouraging attention and words 
which the count gave to the boy, were like a trumpet- 
caU to his life-work. We never kaew the influence of our 
speech upon others. The engineer of the Gottenberg 
canal did not appreciate the effect of his cheering expres- 
sions. John decided at once to emulate the splendid ex- 
ample before him. Very soon after the conversation witk 
Count Platten, John received a high compliment from his 
distinguished friend. By his influence he was appointed 
a cadet in the corps of engineers. In other words, he be- 
came attached to the engineering corps as a pupil, to pre- 



10 LIFE OF JOHK EKICSSON. 

pare for active public service. He watclied tliese able 
meclianics, and learned with a rapidity seldom known in 
the experience of one so young. The men were surprised 
and delighted with the boy, and took pains to answer all 
his questions, earnestly but modestly offered. Only six 
months of tuition passed before he was made NivelleuTj, 
that is Leveler ; in other words, he was an engineer on the 
Grand Ship Canal, under Count Flatten. In his thirteenth 
year he was ordered to lay out work on the national high- 
way for six hundred men. The workmen were soldiers 
of the regular army. When they are not wantedlbr the 
battle field, they are employed by the Government on any 
improvements for the benefit of the State, to which they 
may be assigned. 

Did you ever before hear of a boy engineer in the 
command of six hundred of a king's troops, and that, too, 
on one of the grandest enterprises ever carried forward by 
royal power and treasures? The army regulations are 
very strict in the old world. It is a sternly-enforced rule 
in the military department of Sweden, that the soldier 
must uncover his head when he addresses a superior. 
See that gray-haired veteran come to John Avith cap in 
his hand, and a respectful bow, to receive instructions iu 
his labour ! and he is a single subject of the child-king 
over a realm of more than half a thousand willing sol- 
diers ! Again, look at him while taking surveying obser- 
vations along the rugged line of the broad channel to be 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOjST. 41 

opened for tlie waters. His eye cannot reach the levelh'ng 
instrument. He has grown faster in mind and knowledge 
than in stature. Attendants are at hand, and place under 
his feet a stool. Now he can put his clear eye before the 
sight, and at a glance catch the angles and get the bear- 
ings desired. Down he steps, the stool is borne behind 
him for the next pause of observation. It is almost ludi- 
crous to think of those strong, whiskered, bronzed soldiers 
<jf Bernadotte, the king, led about by the ruddy unpre- 
tending boy, and obeying his commands with as much 
deference and promptness as they would their sovereign's. 
But such is the might of cultivated minds when brought 
into the service of royalty. In this country it would be 
more difficult to secure obedience to the command of one 
so young ; there is too little reverence for authority here, 
either national or parental. This tendency to throw off 
restraint is a threatening sign of the times. Few young 
persons apparently cultivate that beautiful respect for 
parents, teachers, and rulers, universal in our land many 
years since, and still found in Sweden. 

"When the severe winters of Sweden suspended the 
business on the canal, John devoted the long evenings to 
studies with his pencil and paper, as he had done before 
he thought of being an engineer to the king. And you 
would find at the present time, along the Grand Canal, 
various improvements from the diagrams wrought out by 
this child of mathematical science. The stupendous 



42 LIFE or JOHN EEICSSOK. 

acMevement of Count Flatten became a world of en- 
gineering interest to young Ericsson, He commenced 
drawings of all the macliinery and implements connected 
with it. The employment was his pastime. "When fif- 
teen years of age, he had from his otsti hand a complete 
portfolio or panorama of the Grand Canal, three hundred 
miles in length, with all the tools used in the mighty task 
of cutting away the mountain sides, building upon them 
the staircase of locks, and piercing other summits in 
this conquest of nature by science. But all the while, 
unconsciously to himself, John had been drinking in the 
martial spirit from his soldier-workmen and the officers 
with whom he was associated. Is it not strange, that 
with all the hardships and perils, the separation from 
friends, and subjection to unquestioning command by 
superiors, there should be such fascination in military 
life? The trappings and the music, the romance and 
honors attending it, generally attract all the men needed 
by the State, even if not compelled to enlist in the service. 
Two years later, when seventeen, he entered the army. , 
He knew well the enthtisiastic devotion of his noble friend, 
Count Flatten, to mechanics, and that .he supposed his 
protege had decided to devote himself to the same con- 
genial calling. The count was proud of him. But John 
m.ust and would try soldiering. And before his patron 
dreamed of the new passion, the die was cast. Soon as 
lie heard of it he had an interview with the miner-boy, 



riFE OF JOHN EEICSSOJSr. 43 

and urged him not to leave a career so brilliantly com- 
menced, certain in its high reward. John listened, but 
heard the drum and fife in fancy too, and saw, instead 
of burnished mechanism, the sword and bayonet. The 
count grew excited. The lad persisted in his choice. 
With angry words the nobleman left him. The ensign, 
for this was his rank, loved and admired with reverent 
gratitude his benefactor, and felt deeply his indignant 
protest. Firmness and tenacity of purpose were charac- 
teristics, as you have seen, from earliest experience, 
and try the soldier's profession he would. 

Providence seemed to frown at the outset upon his 
change of purpose. His colonel, Baron Koskull, recom- 
mended young Ericsson to Bernadotte for promotion. 
But on account of some misconduct he was disgraced by 
the king at the very time he made the request. The 
king therefore rejected the proposed and deserved honor 
for Ensign Ericsson. It is quite probable that the inti- 
macy existing between liim and Count Flatten, through 
which he must have learned of the nobleman's displeasure, 
before mentioned, had something to do with the failure to 
secm'e the appointment. Baron Koskiill displayed a real 
interest in his ensign. Chagrined and irritated at the re- 
buke of his sovereign, he, notwithstanding, determined to 
press his suit. Having alfinished and accurate military 
map which the young soldier had prepared, lie took it to 
the son of Bernadotte, his Eoyal Highness the Crown 



4A LIFE OP JOHN EEICSSOJT. 

Prince Oscar. Calling his attention to the remarkable 
work of the youtliful ensign, he entreated him to intercede 
with his father, the king, in Ericsson's behalf. The prince 
examined the beautiful creation of genius, expressed his 
admiration of its rare excellence, and bearing it in his 
hand, went to his majesty in person, and asked for the 
author's promotion. The map and the petition of Prince 
Oscar prevailed. Ensign Ericsson was created lieutenant, 
in accordance with the baron's recommendation. It so 
happened that at this crisis in the military career of the 
engineer, the Government had ordered a careful survey 
of the Northern portion of the realm. It was a difficult 
and laborious service, requiring the best talent and cul- 
ture in the kinadom. 



CHAPTER m. 

The King's Surveyor— The young Lieutenant's Examination— The Appointment 
— Eomantic Service — Other Labors — Fulton and Ericsson — The Flame En- 
gine—The "Wooden Eailroad— The Locomotive— The Exciting Eace. 

N,HE king turned for the man lie wanted to his 
j v^ army. Away in tlie cold north, where snow 
glowed in aural splendors, and mildly shone 
like plains and summits of silver in the light of 
o) the moon, was stationed Lieutenant Ericsson's 

regiment. It was there the surveyors were to traverse 
the provinces, wrapped in furs, with the frosty implements 
of surveying in their hands. The culture of his mathe- 
matical powers xmder Admiral Flatten, had given him 
confidence in his ability to hunt the tortuous boundaries 
of his native land. 

He hastens. to the national capital. The Board of 
Examiners open the ordeal. The lieutenant is called up 
for trial. 

\ It is a new and strange scene for him. Veteran offi- 
cers are his questioners. The ruddy youth of seventeen 



46 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

calmly stands forth, and the tests are applied. Problem 
after problem, which might bewilder an older brain, is 
clearly solved. The profoundest depths of practical 
mathematics are sounded, and the miner-boy wins only 
applause. 

The examiners are surprised, and are curious to know 
how it is that he uses Euclid's Geometry so freely and cor- 
rectly. It turns out that he has mastered it like Euclid 
himself. His memory is not remarkable, and therefore 
he does not repeat the demonstrations, but he knows per- 
fectly the principles, and could write a geometry himself. 
This was the foundation of his success in engineering. 
Triumphant in the examination, he was appointed Gov- 
ernment Surveyor for Northern Sweden. 

Some young reader may sigh over such early dis- 
tinction, and say to himself, it was genius, and I could not, 
if I tried, imitate him. You could, in just what made him 
and Lieutenant-General Grant great, hard study and re- 
liable character. Without these, neither would have suc- 
ceeded. More have risen from obscurity by these two 
means of high achievement, than by all others. It is 
wonderful to know how much they will make of a com- 
mon mind. 

The surveyor returned to the highlands, delighted 
with the new field of action. The youthful officer was 
in his element again. Over hill and through gloomy val- 
ley, along the mountain slope and rushing river, the lieu 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 47 

tenant goes with rapid inarches, yet omitting nothing im- 
portant in the survey. It was a romantic yet intensely la- 
borious service. Quite different from similar labor in this 
country. Wild, rugged, and often awfuUy desolate, only 
a few hours of sunlight most of the year, it was duty 
which no constitution but the firmest could have borne, 
performed so rapidly and well. Though the youngest of 
the surveyors, he did by far the most work in a given 
time. 

Do you know how he received his mails in that wild 
region? The dwellings stand apart in the country, and 
there are but few villages in large districts. Queen Chris- 
tiana made new arrangements in respect to the mail- 
service. 

Lands at certain distances along the routes of travel 
were given to the occupants, who, in return, were to see the 
mails transported over the country. 

In summer you might have seen a little boy, some- 
times a girl, riding a poor old horse, all alone, upon the 
desolate plain, through dark fir-tree forest, and across 
the rapid stream, and then over the mountain crest. No 
one thought of robbing or disturbing him — such is the 
honesty and respect for law in Sweden. 

"When the long v/inter came, the little carriers would 
take the sledges, and away they would glide over the ice 
and snow-crust for many miles, till they reached the next 
stage in the long route. Then another post agent hurried 



48 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK". 

off with the precious burden to the scattered people of the 
north. 

Young Ericsson made with his ovra. pencil and pen 
maps very minute in contents, of more than fifty square 
miles, which are preserved in the archives, or repository 
of public records, at the capital of Sweden. -The restless, 
vigorous brain of Ericsson was not satisfied with his 
labors as surveyor. And here I must tell you that he 
would have failed to accomplish so much noble service, 
had he not taken care of his physical frame. You know 
that a strong engine in a frail steamer would soon shake 
it in pieces. It is the same with brain-power, unless sus- 
tained by a healthful bodily system ; it must break down 
the man, and make him a useless wreck of a splendid, 
self-moving machine. God, who formed, requires the ut- 
most care of both the immortal worker and the body 
which enshrines it. The lieutenant has a sound mind in 
a sound frame- work, which was kept, by habits of temper- 
ance and regularity, in excellent tone. 

He undertook now a magnificent volume, with sixty- 
four engra\ings-, on canals. The plan was to describe, 
and have pictures of every thing connected with the build- 
ing of canals ; all the machines, locks, bridges, excava- 
tions, and means of navigation. Major Pentz, a German 
officer and engineer, was his associate in the grand and 
expensive undertaking, "writing the text in his native lan- 
guage, that it might have more readers than it could in 



LIFE OF JOHN EEIOSSON. 49 

the Swedisli tongue. The compilation of the enterprise 
was delayed by various labors, and owing to new dis- 
coveries it was suspended. He was about twenty years 
of age, and had no superior in engineering in the king- 
dom. He was constantly making experiments, suggested 
by what he saw and learned. There had been progress in 
the New "World, which had set his genius on a new track. 
In 1807 you might have seen a curious crowd on the 
banks of the Hudson River, watching the builder of the 
first steamboat and his humble craft. John was then four 
years old, and pencilling his first diagram of machinery. 
Fulton had dreamed over his invention, and wrought it 
out amid unbelief and even ridicule. The multitude could 
scarcely believe their eyes, when the odd-looking structure 
started oflf a little faster than ordinary driving on a good 
turnpike. But the patient inventor saw already his re- 
ward, and consoled himself with the reflection, that it was 
nearly a century after Barth Schwartz invented gunpowder 
before it sent iron balls from the cannon's mouth. 

Other equally important discoveries of genius had 
slowly won their way into popular regard. "What pro- 
gress in the use of steam, while young Ericsson was mas- 
tering the machinery of the mines and of the Grand Ship 
Canal ! With a new idea in his mind, he makes a visit 
to his colonel's house. 

" I have motive power with heat, and without steam,'' 
says the lieutenant. 

a 



50 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

" And bow is that?" 

" The young officer has prepared a small contrivance, 
in which he condenses the flame, and like steam, but with 
perfect safety, it will propel machinery." 

The colonel looks at it with glad surprise ; for he, too, 
is a devotee of science. Then, as Count Piatten did when 
he first saw Ericsson, he urged the maturer genius for- 
ward, assuring him he had struck a new and most impor- 
tant principle in motive powers. 

Encouraged and stimulated by the words of his friend, 
he seeks a body for his principle. With tools and mate- 
rials and time see how enthusiastically he studies the 
liow to accomplish this. What cares he for the " spree " 
of the fast young man, or the lover's song. His silent 
bride, science, is the fairest companion the wide earth can 
offer him. Work — work — work ! Oh, unresting brain, 
what next ? The days and weeks pass. Now look ! 
There stands a beautiful engine, with crank, and wheels, 
and the entu'e harness for service. He starts it, and it 
moves with force equal to a steam-engine of ten-horse 
power. There is no rush of vapor from its prison, and 
only a small quantity of fuel. A Flame Engine ! But 
Sweden is too near the North Pole, too isolated from the 
great heart of the world, for the advent of such a wonder. 
Scientific, mighty England, is the theatre for its ap- 
pearance. The colonel petitions the king, and he consents 
to let his gifted subject go. 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 51 

He left Sweden near the middle of May, 1826, jiist aa 
the fetters of the long winter began to melt away from 
his native realm. On the 18th he reached the shores of 
the British Isle. His heart beat high with hope. Scien- 
tific gentlemen admired the Flame Engine, which had 
moved so finely when heated by the ignited pine splinters 
of the highlands of Sweden. The fuel of England, you 
know, is coals, as they call the exhaustless product of their 
coal-beds. Many miles of immense caverns are the sub- 
terranean world of thousands of English subjects. They 
have much less daylight than the Swedes, passing life 
away by the dim flame of candles. 

The Englishmen, therefore, must try coaJs for the 
Flame Engine. Alas, for the youthful engineer. The 
fire of the mineral fuel was duller, and aifected so inju- 
riously the engine, that it soon became worthless. This 
was no pleasant joke for John Ericsson. The expenses 
of travel and machinery must be paid. Honesty was in- 
grained in his nature. What shall be done ? His brain 
is his banJc. He must draw on that. From it soon went 
forth to the Patent Office of England pictured inventions 
of great merit ; only one of which, we wiU notice here. 
It was a steam boiler for artificial draft; i. e., to draw a 
burden. The year before the first railroad for passen- 
gers was built of wood. The cai's were drawn by horses. 
This was thought to be a grand afiair. Such smooth 



62 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

riding ! and then how many more a horse conld draw 
along the wooden track ! 

In 1829 the first locomotive was brought to this coun- 
try. The earliest engines used had a speed of only four- 
teen mUes an hour. John Ericsson had sent to the 
Patent Office drawings of a revolution on the new tracks 
of travel in the rate of speed. He was a youth of twenty 
tliree, and rightly thought the influence of a well-known 
engineering mechanic would gain public confidence. Mr. 
John Braithwaite was among the " lords in this domain 
of thought." With him he joined his fortunes. 

The same large, vigorous brain, which created machin- 
ery rapidly as most young heads do " vain imaginations," 
was now sure of an invention which would atone for the 
loss on the Flame Engine. Into his room he goes, a 
willing exUe from the haunts of the surging throngs 
of a city. Like the anatomist over his table, on which 
lies, to be taken apart, a human form, so " fearfully and 
wonderfully made," Ericsson bowed over his drawings 
and models ' to construct his metallic giant. The weeks 
again have sped by, and genius and labor triumph. The 
Swedish stranger is railroad king though he does not 
know it. 

The directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Rail- 
way had planned their stationary engines for drawing 
the carriages. They were first ready to put up these m- 
fnovalle naachines for moving from one point to another 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 53 

the passengers and freight. The wise idea was suggested 
of trying the engineering talent of the.^roud Empire, for 
something better to propel the cars. In the autumn of 
1829 a prize of five hundred pounds sterling was offered 
for the best locomotive engine. The inventors were to 
have a day of trial on the small portion of the finished 
track. Lieutenant Ericsson was too busy to read aU the 
advertisements, and had not seen this proposal, published 
in some of the papers, until seven weeks before the race 
was to come off. But such a mind as his knows no can't. 
He decided to enter the lists. His invention, built only in 
lines and models, must be embodied in a locomotive. 
Never did an earnest man bend his energies more closely 
and mightily to a task. The engine is planned, the pat- 
terns made, and the ringing of hammers heard. The 
large, round boiler, takes shape under the strong hands 
of the best mechanics. " Ding, dong ! " go the strokes on 
the rivets. Piston-rods and driving wheels are ready ; 
and when the morning of trial dawns, its light gleams 
along the polished angles and points of the miner-boy's 
locomotive ! The sun ascends toward the zenith, and 
pours its beams on thousands of people whose paths lie 
toward the railroad, on which the iron horses are to test 
their speed. The throngs sweep along the track, and for 
a mile wall in the straight pathway of the steeds, whose 
" sinews are of steel, and whose provender is fire." 
There was no "betting," for an opportunity had no* 



54: LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON". 

offered. The race-horse had hitherto borne the palm 
for speed. And which of the iron monsters, if either, 
would exceed this, was all conjecture with the specu- 
lators. 

" "Well," remarks one, " I think if she goes ten miles 
an hour she will do well." 

" And who would risk his life on greater speed than 
that?" replies a farmer, content with his cart, and three 
miles per hour. 

The foreign lieutenant felt sure his horse would win. 
He was in no hurry to try his " metal." At length the 
signal was given. No whip in the hand of a rider, or 
between light wheels, is heard in response. In the deep 
silence of suspence, a hand is laid upon the lever which 
opens a valve. The imprisoned steam rushes into the 
piston-cylinder, the rod moves, the crank swings round, 
the heavy wheels revolve, and away the " Novelty" 
glides at the rate of more than fifty miles an hour ! 
On the fleet iron-steed, John Ericsson and John Braith- 
waite hold the reins with perfect control of his resistless 
advance. 

"Hurrah! hurrah!! hurrah!!!" now breaks from 
the vast concourse, like the " sound of many waters." 
Again and again the thunders of wild applause drown the 
sharp voice of the escaping steam, and the heavy sound 
of the ponderous wheels. Back and forth the tireless 
racer flies. The astonished populace shout, wave hats 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 55 

and handkerchiefs, while the stochlrohers are adding ten 
per cent, to the shares of the Manchester and Liverpool 
Railway. This is the money-market estimate of the in- 
vention, quite as reliable, my young readers, as the 
hurrahs. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Disappointment— TTot Discouraged— The Invention doing go«d— Ite Steam 
Fire-Engine— A Fire- Another Confliigration— The Gold Medal— Various 
Inventions — Ships— Steamers. 

\Y young reader, have you ever been disappoint- 
ed? Has some bright vision of success in life- 
plans, or pleasure near, vanished in a moment? 
This is one of the saddest lessons of human 
experience, and yet one of the most common. 
The world does not meet our hopes, nor can it satisfy the 
aspirations of the soul. Our miner-boy had not known a 
more unexpected, and for a time^ perhaps no greater dis- 
appointment than one he was doomed to experience now.. 
It seemed to him, and to all, that to draw carriages along 
fifty miles an hour, instead of a dozen, the highest rate of 
speed in travel before, would bring the inventor fame and 
fortune. The great discovery of harnessing the steam to 
draw like horses, only many times faster, was real. The 
Swede was the prince of inventors here. But at this 




LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 57 

moment an accident^as we sa,j, apparently a mere chance 
hint, which was Providential interposition, plucked the 
honor and the golden reward from his hands. It was an 
improvement, hy another mechanic, in the application of 
the locomotive power. The engines made by it were more 
convenient and more serviceable. The brave worker in 
wheels and steam showed no token of discouragement. 
The beautiful boiler was smaller than any thing of the 
kind before. The notion had been universal among sci- 
entific men, that there was no way of getting a large 
amount of steam in boilers so short, compact, and light. 
The Novelty blew, with its hot breath, that wise conclu- 
sion to the winds. And now see how the failures of culti- 
vated, well-balanced, patient intellects, are successes after 
all. That is, they contribute to the world's progress — 
lead to something of enduring value. It was now 1830. 
The inventor had been in England four years. . After 
a few weeks more of thinking, Mr. Ericsson said to his 
friend, Mr. Braithwaite : "■ I have another use for my 
priaciple in the construction of the steam-boiler." 

" And what now ? " 

"We will have a steam fire-engine." 

Neither Mr. Braithwaite nor anybody else had then 
thought of making fire and water put out the flames of a 
conflagration. 

In the earlier periods of English and French history, 
there was a singular and rather a beautiful protection 
3* 



58 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

against conflagrations in cities. Tiie curfew hell, which 
you know was, at eight o'clock in the evening, the sig- 
nal for putting out all the fires. So, whenever the 

" Curfew tolled the knell of parting day," 

the guardians of the homes of the people must at once 
extinguish the flames which warmed them, and soon no 
smoke tiU the next morning curled upward from the 
countless chimneys. Excepting such precautions, the only 
means besides buckets of water in the hands, and some 
local contrivances employed to extinguish fires, till 1830 
were the engines you have seen worked by men. Up 
and down the long wooden or metallic handles went, till 
the tired firemen sometimes were ready to drop exhausted 
to the earth. 

Work ! work ! again, is the quiet, fascinating life of 
the engineer. The time flies, and look ! a new thing 
under the sun glitters in its light. 

""What is that?" inquires the curious spectator. 

"You will know when it is needed." And soon it 
was wanted. 

"Fire! fire!" rings along the streets of London 
The beUs sound their alarm. Away rattles the first 
steam fire-engine to try its power over the flames, spitting 
sparks in its track, and pufling columns of smoke. The 
beautiful Argyle Rooms are wrapped in the ruddy and 
devouring element. The excited crowd are there. The 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON". 59 

hand-pumps of the old machines sound on every hand. 
The curious intruder opens its stream of water ; steady, 
full, and high it curves over the red battlements. Genius 
has won a triumph which will be felt in every laud. 

The King of Prussia, in 1832, ordered of Messrs. 
Ericsson and Braithwaite a similar engine of larger di- 
mensions, and consequently of greater power. And one 
night, in the splendid city of Berlin, Prussia, the fire- 
alarm sounds upon the still air. The throngs surge 
through the streets. The engines go rattling along the 
flame-illumined highways. It is a- fearful conflagration. 
The King's steam fire-engine comes to the rescue ; into 
the waving banners of fire, the jet of water streams ; 
soon they begin to droop, and the victorious defiant 
element recoils before the invader of his red field of ruin. 
A number of elegant buildings were saved from the de- 
structive fire by the timely appearance of its noble antag- 
onist. The people watched the engine as if it were a 
living giant ; and were ready to cheer the protector of 
the city whose fiery heart had fought so well the very foe 
which was a friendly povfer in the iron harness of the 
beautiful machines. 

The Mechanics' Institute of New York saw the work 
of genius in the unequalled steam fire-engine, soon as the 
foreigner came to our shores. In 1842 that scientific 
institution gave John Ericsson a large and richly-embossed 
gold medal. The only difiiculty in Captain Ericsson's fire- 



60 LIFE OF JOHN" ERICSSON. 

engines was the time requii^ed to " fire up." After the 
preparation to work the machine commenced, it would he 
twenty minutes before the jet of water could be thrown 
nearly a hundred feet. The first one, of six-horse power, 
would discharge a hundred and fifty gallons per minute. 
Still, like every thing else which is an innovation upon 
old customs, the invention received but little attention 
until Mr. A. B. Latta, of Cincinnati, Ohio, made a great 
improvement, his patent requiring but five or six minutes 
to get the engine ready to work, and successfully intro- 
ducing the invention to the public. 

While sojourning in England, Captain Ericsson made 
several very valuable inventions — improvements in en- 
gines and machinery ; but while of great value, and the 
result of deep study, there is one which eclipses all others. 
This creation of his fruitful brain would alone have im- 
mortalized his name. It is the now world-wide propeller. 

Before I tell you how he came to think of it, you 
should have a clear idea of the different kinds of vessels 
for ocean navigation, and the progress of improvement. 
For when you think that two-thirds of the globe's surface 
are covered with water, and that not only would the con- 
tinents be distinct and almost unknown to each other as 
the worlds in space without the ships, but some of the 
fiercest and most decisive battles in the history of nations 
have been fought on the sea, you will appreciate the 
greatness and value of the inventions and improvements 



LITE OF JOHN EKICS80N. 61 

m navigation. And it is not long since a bright-eyed l)oj» 
inquired, " What are men-of-war and monitors ? and how 
do soldiers fight on the sea ? " 

Here is the answer : I wiU begin at the beginning. 
Anciently, the only vessels built were flat-bottomed 
barges, or boats resembling those used on country ferries 
across rivers. They had small sails, or were propelled 
by oars. Sometimes there were in the larger ships banks 
or rows of the rowers, so that many oars struck the waters 
at the same moment. There were two ways of fighting. 
Vessels were constructed with sharp iron prows, with 
which the enemy's ships were pierced, or crushed. The 
water rushing into the breach finished the work of de- 
struction. Another method of warfare was, to come 
close together, usually side by side, even fastening to 
each other, and then hurl the javelins, strike with spears, 
and use other missiles of death ; for gunpowder and 
guns, you know, were not used at all tiU about 500 years 
ago. This kind of naval fighting was called hoarding the 
shi]) The discovery of the magnetic needle, and the voy- 
ages oi Columbus, gave a new impulse to navigation. 

Henry VII., of England, who was crowned Decem- 
ber, 1487, founded the British navy.s, Under his sceptre, 
was built the " Great Harry" and the " Sovereign of the 
Seas," which carried one hundred guns. Indeed, the 
English over-gunned their men-of-war, or large shipa 
built and fitted up for ocean conflicts and defence. The 



62 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

great number of cannon pressed the ships down too much 
in the water. The lower port-holes, *'. e., apertures in the 
vessel's sides for the mouths of the guns, had to be closed 
in a storm, to keep the waves from dashing into them. 
Of course many of the cannon were useless excepting in 
a calm. 

In 1779 General Melville, of the English navy, in- 
vented carronades, thus named from Carron and Com- 
pany, in whose iron-works they were cast. They were 
short, large-mouthed guns, for throwing shot in a short 
course or arc into the enemy's ships. It was then a 
great improvement in the arms of the navy. Forty years 
later there was another revolution in naval warfare, by 
an invention of the French commander, Paixhans. It 
was a cannon for hoUow shot or sheUs, exploding 
after striking the ship or fort. It had a large tube, with 
a narrow chamber for the powder at the end. Napoleon 
Bonaparte saw the awful havoc bursting globes of iron 
would make anywhere, especially in the deck and sides 
of a ship. When he contemplated an invasion of Eng- 
land, he had his ships at Boulogne armed with howitzers, 
that is, short guns for throwing hollow shot. 

Long after steam was employed in navigation, it was 
not thought of in war vessels. The reason was, the 
wheel-house being on the sides of the steamers, it Avas 
exposed to the fire of the enemy. A single ball or shell 
would crusli the machinery for motion, and leave the 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSOJT. 63 

boat at the mercy of the waves and the foe. But some 
were introduced because of speed, and the room on deck 
for platforms and wooden railways, on which the cannon 
could be elevated and turned in different directions. 

The white wings of canvas were, however, the prin- 
cipal dependence in the movements of the navy. 

In our Revolutionary struggle, and in the last war 
with England, the frigates, which are war vessels larger 
than schooners, and not so large as the regular men-of- 
war, or ships of the Kne, did the best fighting on the sea. 
The Constitution and the Ironsides every boy has read 
of in the history and poetry of the land. 

Before describing the next grand revolution in naval 
warfare, you must learn more of the work of the miner- 
boy in his riper years ; for the navies of the world are 
indebted to him for two of the most wonderful inventions 
ever known, or ever likely to be known, in ships of war. 



CHAPTER V. 

The New Wonder — Birds the Inventor's Instructors — The Miniature Ship and 
Sea— The Noiseless Triumph. 

HE great Swede is commissioned by Providence 

to add to the naval leviathans a new wonder of 

, motion and strength, which is itself to be only 

~..^j\. ^j^g herald of a still greater one many years 



afterward to be created — ^the miner-boy's Moni- 
tor. Hitherto, as you have seen, all sea-going vessels 
were moved along by the winds, galleys of oars, and 
v/heels at the sides, acting directly on the water. 
^-^Captain Ericsson had observed the flight of birds, and 
the motion of fishes, whose swirmning power is chiefly in 
their tails. If you have not watched them, and wiU do 
so, you wiU soon perceive that the wings and fins do not, 
like oars and wheels, strike nearly in a direct line against 
the air and water, but with an ohlique or wavy motion 
The eagle cannot turn his wing horizontally, i. e., at right 
angles with his body. Much less could he sweep the cir- 



LIFE OF JOHIT ERICSSOlSr. 65 

cle, had he the power to attempt it, without bfeaking 
bones, or at least twisting and bruising the muscles and 
blood-vessels and tearing the plumage. So he lifts the 
pinion, and brings it down with an oblique blow against 
the air, which drives him along in whatever direction he 
steers his aerial bark. 

It is by a similar process that the fish uses his tail-fin, 
propelling his bodv, which he guides and also urges along 
with the little side-paddles and rudder on his back. 

The question got into Captain Ericsson's massive 
brain, and would not leave without an answer, Why can- 
not ships be borne along by an application of this natural 
law ? He thouglit and dreamed in his very sleep over it. . 
There was a serious difiiculty to which we have indirectly 
alluded — -the wing and tale did not revolve ; the wheels of 
the ship must go roiind. But God — whose wisdom is in- 
finite, and therefore combines the greatest variety of uses 
possible in the perfect adaptation of what he makes to 
fulfil its design, made the wings and fins for other pur- 
poses besides motion. They are a part of the body, and 
share in all its life and beauty. God's " way is perfect." 
The ethereal and the submarine navigators are specimens 
of this skill which unite in an indivisible whole such a 
number and variety of functions, or offices, each dependent 
upon, and in entire harmony with the others. But in the 
use of natural elements and forces, it is designed that 
man should exercise his divine inspiration of inventive 



66 LIFE OF JOHN EEIOSSOS". 

thought. We are to take the hints which the creating 
mind gives us in the perfect workmanship of the sovereign 
will, and overcome difficulties in the way of human pro- 
gress, by profound study. God never thinhs—eYerj thing 
was forever and will always be present, and unclouded to 
his view. We must think, or be dwarfs intellectually, and 
morally triflers. For all genius and study can do, is to 
find out so much of the Infinite in his woi'ks and word, as 
to advance us in knowledge, goodness, and usefulness, 
both individually and in ail social relations. The genius 
of Ericsson had taken a hint, and he was sure it xvould 
grow into a practical form. 

"But," said an engineer, "you will lose half your 
motive-power — the paddle which strikes the water in a 
slaunting or oblique direction, instead of squarely — ^that is 
to say, at right angles like the wheels of steamboats- — will 
not lousTi as hard. It v/ill slip through the water without 
propelling the vessel." 

The Swede had thought of that, and replied : " You 
don't reflect that the lighter the Uow against the ivater, the 
less engine power vnll he required.'" 

Let us go to the birds again, and observe how easily 
and graceftdly they rise with this semicircular sweep of 
their wings. You can perceive at once, that if they had to 
strike directly against the air, just as you would v/ith a 
fan, or your hand, it would demand more strength while 
it gave a greater impulse forward. The truth is. Captain 



LIFE OF JOniSr EEICSSOK. 67 

Ericsson at first supposed there was force in the objection. 
And how do you imagine he saw the fallacy of it ? 

A grand and Christian idea flashed over his quick and 
comprehensive mind. It Avas this : " The great Mechani- 
cian of the Universe, in enabling the birds, insects, and 
fishes to move through their respective elements, had 
adopted the oblique motion as a universal principle." 

He was sure that God could make no mistakes. If the 
honey-bee had taught all mathematicians, in the structure 
of the cells of the comb, how to make the best reservoirs of 
the sweet drops, combining strength with economy — -the 
life and instinct of other animals must be equally true to 
Him. He knew, also, that men are slow to see and be- 
lieve that there is a laiv of cotnpensation for any apparent 
loss everywhere, if we will find and apply it. Satisfied 
that there could be invented and built machinery with the 
oblique stroke, which would be an improvement in many 
uses of it, over any other — ^because the wisdom of Jeho- 
vali had made, and was constantly filKng the air and the 
waters with its moving life-barks, large and small — he 
went to his task. 

What cares he for the French Revolution across the 
Channel ? Yf hat to him was the es})uision of the Bour- 
bons, and the enthronement of Louis Philippe — and the 
whole question of the " divine right of kings," compared 
to his royal privilege, his divine right to interpret prac- 
tically and beneficially to the race, the wisdom of the 



68 LIFE O? JOHIT EKicssosr. 

Almiglity Sovereign? Brave, earnest, high-priest at 
nature's shrine ! looking u'om it "up to nature's God." 
The Lord must be right ^ " whatever philosophy, falsely 
so called," might declare. 

Into the laboratory like a liermit, goes the noble in- 
ventor ; for whenever he has a task of the kind, he 
shuts out the busy world — will scarcely see his frieuuis. 
From morning till night he plies the pencil, and turns 
over the models. It is no unwilling confinement and 
labor. His genius is fired with a new discovery, and 
glows like the furnace-flame upon the solution of his prob- 
lem ; the tangible and successful realization of it in human 
life. He is to create a ivater-hird, or mermaid whose mo- 
tions man is to control and guide. 

Nobody cares for the secluded toiler. When it is 
mentioned to an educated mechanic, or an inventor, that 
Ericsson has so curious a project in hand, a smile of in- 
credulity is the reply. 

The millions of London, and the king on his throne, 
alike keep their usual course of varied activity, quite un- 
conscious that a revolution in navigation — -an improve- 
ment that will be felt around the globe — is in that un- 
slumbering brain, and within the walls of his narrow 
room. 

One day he emerges from his cherished prison with a 
small, odd-looldng boat in his hands. It is the first minia- 
ture propeller. He wends his way through the streets, 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 69 

attracting an occasional glance, and tlie question, " "What 
is that?" 

Reaching a large circular bath, he prepares to try this 
little copy of hird-motion. The engine is there — the 
wheel-work — all but the boiler and steam. 

What shall be done? Has the inventor come to see 
how his toy v/ill look on the water, and push it around 
with his hand? You do not think this of him. Busy 
hands are at work overhead. Now, there is a steam- 
boiler on its supports, coming down to a short distance 
from the surface of the basin. The fire is kindled, and 
soon the hissing vapor is heard. A pipe connects the 
boiler with the engine in the boat. Every thing is ready. 
Captain Ericsson grows somewhat nervous. The moment 
to demonstrate the value of his discovery has come — ^the 
result of his intense study for many long days, is to be 
tested. Ten thousand hearts would beat with sympathy 
and suspense, did they know how much for the future of 
the nations was then and there on trial. The steam is 
turned on, and down it rushes along the tube to the small 
piston-cyKnder, and then away the model goes around the 
basin ! The frail bark is not two feet in length, and of 
course can manage only a very trifling amount of steam. 
And yet it swims through the orbit formed by the rim of 
the bath, at the rate of three miles an hour. Lift your 
eye to that manly face, and mark how the sunlight of a 
pure delight breaks over the features just now shaded 



70 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSOiSr. 



with anxiety ! The Shakspearian forehead seems to broad- 
en before the relieved and expanding brain. His massive 
frame grows elastic, and he starts his own living mechan- 
ism with a fresh impulse in the walks of useful toil. 

"'Tisdone!" he exclaims; " the propeller is no longei 
a theory ! it succeeds beyond my hope !" How noiseless 
the triumph of genius ! 

Many a victory on a field piled with the mangled 
dead, and red with blood, which has been sung by a na- 
tion, and thundered from a thousand cannon, has been 
far less sublime and \'aluable to mankind, than the quiet 
conquest of thought, celebrated on the margin of a bath 
in London with a smile and a few words of exultation ! 




CHAPTER VI. 

What is a Propeller ?— Building a Ship— The next Toy of genius— The "Flying 
Devil"— Unwise Great Men— The Exenrsion- The Disappointment 

HEAR a voice of inquiry saying, " And how is the 
propeller made ? What is there so very peculiar 
and valuable about it?" I wiU try to give you a 
true and plain answer to this natural and interest- 
ing question. To do this, I will begia with the 
building of a ship. 

If you go to a ship yard, the first glance Vvdll give you 
only a bewildering impression of hundreds of busy men — 
axes and saws in motion — Shammers drivuig home bolts 
and nails — with here and there a partially-finished hulk 
surrounded with all sorts of lumber. 

There is system and perfect order through aU this 
apparent confusion. Every workman, and each piece of 
oak and cedar, has a place and purpose. 

But how does the stately vessel grow out of the mate- 
rials and labor of the busy manufactory ? 



72 LEFE OF JOHN EKICSSO^T. 

Look yonder by the margin of the water, and you 
will notice a long line of timber laid on blocks, and in- 
clined toward the channel. That is the keel, which ex- 
tends the whole length of the ship to he luilt. It is double — 
that is, there is a false keel attached to the first, to be 
removed in case the vessel gets in shallow water, and 
thus give it more room. The slope to the shore is for the 
launching. 

The next work is setting up the timbers which form 
the skeleton. The curved stem, which is the foundation 
of the prow, is put in its place. The stem timber fol- 
lows. One after another, the side parts of different form 
are adjusted. The keelson, corresponding in its direction 
with the keel, is run along the ship's length higher in the 
framework to support the floors, &c. Iron braces to 
strengthen and bolts to fasten, are added. Along the 
sides of the ship, at water-mark, runs a shelf. This 
is a jutting out of the vessel's side, on which to rest the 
covering or woodwork above. 

When the structure has reached this stage in its pro- 
gress, its condition is similar to that of the house after 
'' the raising." The covering and partitions of the floors 
soon enclose and divide the skeleton, and you have a hulk 
resembling in shape half of an egg cut lengthwise. The 
masts, capstan, chocks for running the ropes through to 
fasten the ship, and other additions, complete the form 
of the wooden leviathan of the deep. 



LIFE OF JOHN ESICSSON. , T3 

The hour for the launch arrives. Tlie owners of 
the finished ship, their friends, and perhaps hundreds 
of curious spectators, assemble to witness it. The 
fine structure lies in the ways — i. e., the frame whicli 
supports it in its place. The blocks that hold it 
on the inclined plane are struck out, and Y/ith ex- 
cited people on the deck under waving banners, oif the 
released corsair of the deep moves — slowly for an instant, 
and then with rapid motion it rushes " stern-foremost " 
into the tide. How gracefully kissing the water, and 
then righting again, the creation of genius and skill shoots 
across the channel or bay ! But this is not building a 
propeller? Yes, until you come to masfe, or talk of pad- 
dle-wheels for a steamer. 
■"•^-^ Instead of either, a screw-wheel, which an auger will 
make you understand as well, perhaps, as any thing, is 
laid under the stern, horizontally. That is to say, tha 
position is like that of the auger lying under the ship, with 
the iron part vvhich enters the handle, connected with the 
machinery to turn it round. The steam starts the piston, 
the crank revolves, and right by the rudder or steering 
apparatus, round the screw goes, the oblique surfaces 
p/DpeUing the vessel along. The screw makes two revo- 
lutions with every stroke of the piston-rod. This allows 
a slower motion of the steam-engine, and a quicker one 
of the wheels in the same time, than in other steamers. '' 
The propeller is very safe on another account. The 
4 



74 LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSOK". 

macMnery for locomotion is, as you perceive, concealed 
and protected — it is under water. All this which has 
been described, was in the model. But how shall the 
ship be built? The inventor has no fortune, but, through 
the confidence of a few friends, the means are secured for 
beginning the vessel. It must be small. The keel, which 
is the longest timber, for a boat forty feet in length, eight 
feet in width, and to draw three feet of water, is laid. It 
is to have two propellers, each five feet and a quarter in 
diameter. 

The ship-carpenters are curious to know what sort 
of a craft this " back-handed" affair will be. Captain 
Ericsson watches the growth of his little ship with some- 
thing of the intense feelings he had when the model took 
shape under his hand, till it was launched in the basin. 
The flame crackles under the boilers, and their tubes fill 
with steam. The cable lies coiled on the deck, and the 
anchor rests unsoiled by the channel's bottom. The en- 
gineer's hand is on the lever, the nest moment it turns 
the iron bar ; a puff, and off the little steamer starts at 
the rate of ten miles an hour ! Captain Ericsson and his 
friends are mute with glad surprise at the complete suc- 
cess, with no delay, in the adjustment of machinery. Not 
a wheel, rod, screw, or a,ny other part of the harness of 
the before unknown form' of locomotion had to be touch- 
ed. Spectators from the bridge and the decks watch the 
spectre-like navigator, for neither wheels nor paddles are 



LIFE OF JOH:<r EEICSSON. 75 

visible. The old boatmen of the Thames stand with a 
stare of amazement as the propeller shoots around among 
the " craft," reminding one of the comet among the stars, 
it was such a nondescript of naval architecture. 

" Hallo there, captain !" shouts a veteran salt ; " I've 
been to sea, and up and down this river, but that sort of 
craft was never seen before. What do you call her?" 
The steamer answered with a louder puff, as if enjoying 
greatly the astonishment. The hands gathered in groups 
on the boats of the river, gazing and talking about the 
mysterious visitor. But no explanation could be obtained. 

The propeller is next fastened to schooners of one hun- 
dred and forty tons burden, i. e., designed to carry that 
weight ; and with ease they were drawn along on the tide, 
at the rate of seven miles an hour. But look yonder at 
that stately ship riding at anchor. It could carry two or 
three of those schooners. The stranger is the American 
packet Toronto, commanded by Captain Griswold. The 
fine sailor is ready to spread her canvas, and " stand out 
to sea." The propeller curves round to her prow, the 
rope is fastened, and the snorting steamer moves with it 
into the stream, five miles an hour. The boatmen watcli 
every motion, and try to discover the motive povv'er. 
But aU that can be discerned while the vessel goes at no 
mean rate against wind and tide, is a foaming rush of 
water under the stern, and a slender wake, as if a large 
fish were under, and bearing along on its back, the plain, 



76 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

substantial liulk. At length a shrewd old salt says, 
while he looks, " Flying Devil ! " The name just suited 
the superstitious wonder of the boatmen, and by common 
consent this was the name of the Ericsson propeller — the 
first in the history of the world ! 

The excitement attending the advent of the new navi- 
gator sooi! died away, and then came the more important 
verdict of the London engineers. They eyed the propel- 
ler askance, as if it were some " humbug," or, at best, a \ 
useless intruder among vessels whose right to the waters \ 
was established. The great inventor vv'ho had thought 
out, and then wi-ought out the little steamer, knew better. 
Every part of it v^as in accordance Avith natm^al law. It 
was a painful surprise and disappointment to him, that 
others coolly turned away from the creation of his genius, 
and would consign it to oblivion. It seems strange that 
the mathematicians and mechanics of the metropolis of 
Europe, and in all the elements of greatness of the world, 
should not have discerned what was so clear to him, the 
fitness of the propeller for ships of Avar. 

His next endeavor in its behalf AA^as to get the subject 
before the Lords of the British Admiralty. " And Avhat 
is the admiralty ? " a reader asks. V/hen first instituted 
it was the office of Lord High Admiral. It gave to a 
nobleman the general superintendence of the royal navy. 
But afterward six lords were appointed to the same hon- 
orable position. There is a Court of Admiralty for the 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON". 77 

trial of causes which belong to the naval department. 
Like all the official business of the British empire, the 
afrairs of the admiralty are conducted in aristocratic style. 
England has been proud of her navy, until recently the 
boasted " mistress of the seas." The offices of the ad- 
miralty are in the famous Somerset House, to which al- 
lusion will be made in the story of Mr. Ericsson's trial 
of faith and hope with his propeller. It was originally 
built by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, the Pro- 
tector under Edward VI., in 1549. I can give you no 
idea of its magnificence. To erect the noble pile, the 
duke pulled down several important buildings, and vv^oukl 
have demolished a part of Westminster Abbey, could he 
have had his own way. But the Government restrained 
his vaulting ambition. The interior was a dazzling dis- 
play of luxury. But Seymour was an impressive illus- 
tration of the words : " Pride goeth before destruction, 
and a haughty spirit before a fall." He was beheaded 
for high-treason. In 1775, just as our Revolutionary 
war with England opened, the Somerset House was par- 
tially taken down and built over by the Government, and 
became the headquarters of its business. In it the mon- 
archy of the empire lives, more truly than in the palace. 
Because, without its vast and constant work, the crov/n 
^^n^ouM be worthless. Here, in apartments almost as ele- 
gant as those of Y/indsor Castle, the Lords of Admii-alty 
meet in their official capacity. 



78 LIFE OF JOHJSr ERICSSON. 

Captain Ericsson succeeded in getting the half-hearted 
attention of these magistrates, only to meet with a new 
repulse "from that august body." Undaunted still, he 
resolved on one experiment more, although it would in- 
volve him in considerable expense. The plan was, to 
invite those lords to make an excursion in the admiralty 
barge in tow of his propeller. He could not doubt the 
certainty of an order from. them to build a war-steamer 
on the same principle, when once they had scanned its 
movements more closely. The invitation was accepted. 
The bright day to nature and to his hopes came. The 
barge lay before the Somerset House, on the Thames. It 
was a gorgeous boat covered with gold, and lined with 
damask. The richness and beauty of it, with the dignity 
of the half dozen noblemen, v/ould have bewildered a 
royal parasite, or any ambitious admirer of titled men. 
But Captain Ericsson cA&'ed little for display beyond prac- 
tical results — the shoiu of deeds worthy of the intellect and 
heart. Look toward the massive steps of the Somerset 
House. DoT/n them walk Sir Charles Adam, senior 
lord of the admiralty ; Sir William Simonds, chief con- 
structor of the British navy ; Sir Edward Parry, the cele- 
brated commander of the second North Pole expedition ; 
Captain Beaufort, the chief of the topographical depart- 
ment of the British admiralty, and several other gentle- 
men of scientific and naval distinction ; and " last though 
not least," excepting in official rank, Captain Johf 



l/EFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. Y9 

Ericsson. They enter the barge, and the order is given 
to lash the plain little steamer to the magnificent " floating 
palace " of the lords. An unseen hand turns a lever, the 
steam hisses, the screw in the stem of the tug flies round, 
and away the Siamese twins, excepting in the entire want 
of resemblance to each other, go over the quiet Thames. 
Now for the great work in hand ! Anticipating the 
severest scrutiny, Captain Ericsson had prepared dia- 
grams of his invention. They exhibited in clear and 
beautiful outline the new locomotive power on water, and 
the relation of it to naval vessels for warlike purposes. 
There the accurate pictures lie on the soft damask, simple 
and yet scientific. The inventor, placing his finger upon 
them, begins his explanations. Sir Charles Adam and 
Sir "William Simonds, two of the most important person- 
ages present, look at the sheets, listen a moment, and 
glancing at him and then at each other, unmistakably 
mean, if they do not say it — " What of it ? " 

The keen eye of Ericsson watched, the illustrious jury 
while he continued his earnest plea for the propeller. 
But each in turn looked tvisely indifferent, shrugged his 
shoulders, and shook his head, while in low tone remarks 
were exchanged, all indicating pretty distinctly the verdict 
which would be rendered. Neither of the gentlemen in 
the barge would unkindly wound the sensibilities of the 
noble Swede ; but every one of them Avas sure he could 
demonstrate the worthlessness of the invention. The 



80 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 

naval magi of the grandest empire on earth, felt that they 
were competent to show him and the world what a fool 
he had made of himself in this affair. They considerately 
spared his feelings, any further than the significant tokens 
of wisdom, and rejection of the uncomplaining stranger 
puffing away by the side of the barge, were concerned. 
That stranger, unheeding them, bore the barge along ten 
miles an hour. Now, through the lofty arches of South- 
wark Bridge the steamer urged its way, attracting, partly 
on account of its singular appearance, but more because 
of the barge, spectators to the decks of the shipping, and 
to the railing along the arches. Then again the scene 
changed to London Bridge. Upward to the high roof the 
smoke curled, and down to the mysterious traveller and 
the gorgeous display by its side, the wondering eyes of a 
multitude were turned. 
3^ " What do you call that craft without wheels or sails ?" 
inquires a sailor, who saw for the first time the propeller. 

" Flying Devil, is all the name I've heard;" replies 
another /ivlio witnessed the feat with the Toronto. 

" What makes her go — a spirit, or some Yankee 
witchcraft from the other side?" 

" Well, there's steam you see, and an auger-wheel 
turns down there under the stern. But how 'tis done you 
must ask somebody that knows, for I don't." 

Exclaims a wag, "Well, that looks like a rough 
Highlander married to a Princess-Royal, and carrying 



LIFE OF JOHN" ERICSSON. 81 

her along in his arms." At length the steamer and its 
charge reached Limeliouse, and the steam-engine manu- 
factory of the Messrs. Seward. 

The scene changes again, and to an amusing contrast. 
Their lordships having mentally dismissed from attention 
the propeller, devote their time to more important matters. 

Around the sombre buildings lie finished and unfin- 
ished marine engines of difierent forms. English fashion, 
they are heavy, cunabrous machines — looking more like 
'' huge piles of ill-shaT)ed cast iron" tlian mechanism. 
They y>'er8 designed for his majesty's steamers, or for un- 
certain experiments. The learned representatives of the 
British navy walk over the ample grounds strewn and 
piled with these common and comparatively unimportant 
wheels and angular masses, with words of criticism and 
commendation, from which there was no appeal, excepting 
to the actual trial of the various contrivances. They 
pause with peculiar interest and evident dehght around 
the Morgan paddle-wheel — so called from the name of an 
inventor, who made in this usual method of propelling 
steamers a decided improvement. The favorite appara- 
tus is observed with prolonged devotion, which declares 
more emphatically than words could, that Captain Erics- 
son's submarine screw had better heep out of the way of 
tJiose ^^addle^wheels. 

The lords seemed to expand with, conscious greatness^ 
while their admiring looks and expressions said : 
4« 



82 LIFE OF JOHK ERICSSON. 

"Mr. Swede, you can't tell 'John Bull' any thing 
which is worth knowing. Just fix your eye on this fitting 
propelling machine for our ships, if you want to sail them 
with steam. But we respectfully decline to allow the 
possibility of a rival in your under-water screw. It 
would be as sensible and proper to ask us, the British 
Admiralty, to take the great paddles from their steamers, 
and fasten under their keel immense augers. No, Mr. 
Ericsson, you mean very well undoubtedly, but you are 
chimerical — ^you are not English." 

The modest inventor could make no other interpreta- 
tion of the appearance of his party from the time the 
princely barge left Somerset House up to that moment. 

Having surveyed thus leisurely the iron works of the 
Messrs. Seward, they reentered the barge, and com- 
menced the return voyage. Captain Ericsson felt less 
sanguine than when he started, but stiU hopeful that re- 
flection would work out the desired result. He did not 
urge the drawings, nor the steamer, on their further no- 
tice. The prows cut the foam — the banners waved in the 
breeze — the barge glittered and blushed in the sunlight 
— and the boatmen stared at the pageant, till the little tug, 
having done aU that was promised, swept with its charge 
around to the granite edge of the solid wharf near the 
Somerset House. 

The distinguished gentlemen disembarked ; and as they 
parted with the propeller and its inventor, Sir Charles 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 83 

Adam, with a ludicrously sympathizing manner, took him 
^<»cordially by the hand, and said : " "We thank you, sir, for 
the trouble you Lave taken to show us this interesting ex- 
periment. "We fear, sir, that you have incurred too much 
expense, and given us too much attention on the occa- 
sion." 

And thus closed the admiralty excursion. Our hero 
in naval science and labors is hoived back again to his tug 
and his study. 



CHAPTER VII. 



The Sublimely ConfideBt Spirit— The Letter— The Eesult— The Mystery— Ita 
Solution— The fresh display of Wisdom by the Admiralty— The Engineer- 
ing Corps — The Swede and his American Friends. 



-THOUGHTFULLY, and under the shadow of an 

tin 



entirely unexpected neglect, the fine-looking 



Swede, still in the freshness of mature youth, 
turns away toward the close of day, with a glance 
of interest deepened by the indifference of others, 
toward his anchored steamer, and one of sad annoyance 
upon the Somerset House, glowing in the light of his 
expensive holiday* He had relied upon the insight of the 
educated minds in the Board of British Admiralty. The 
bills of the excursion were cheerfully paid, for he was still 
confident that their lordships would appreciate and ac- 
knowledge the value of his invention. 

With patient hope he waited to hear the result of the 
" sober second thought." 

One day a friend called with a letter in his hand, bear- 
ing the ofl&cial seal of the admiralty. With an excite- 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 85 

ment of feeliag not often occasioned by a similar missive, 
lie broke the envelope. He read on with increasing sur- 
prise. "With no reasons assigned, the burden of the mes- 
sage was, that the lords of the admiralty were greatly 
disappointed with the movements of the propeller. Cap- 
tain Ericsson read the letter again, wondering what it 
meant. The little steamer had run over the turbid Thames 
faster than any paddle-wheel boat had done, on so small a 
scale, obeying perfectly the helm. 

The inventor might have been in a fog dark as that so 
common in London externally, to the present time, had 
not a mere incident occurred to clear it away. Another 
friend happened to be present at a dinner where Sir 
WiUiam Simonds, chief contractor of the British navy, 
who, you recollect, was one of the excursionists in the 
barge, was also a guest. The conversation naturally 
turned upon the latest naval novelty. Captain Ericsson's 
ingenuity and energy were complimented, but — the pro- 
peller must prove a failure. 

Sir William summed up the case, and rendered the 
verdict of the admiralty thus : 

" Even if the propeller had the power of propelling a 
vessel, it vv^ould be found altogether useless in practice, 
because the power being applied in the stern it wtiuld be 
absolutely impossible to make the vessel steer." 

Oh, oracular Sir Vyilliam ! Though your splendid 
barge was borne along ten miles an hour, wherever th§ 



Ob LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOJSr. 

governor of the tug listed, and a pleasure ride lias been 
the only opportunity of observation, your wisdom, im- 
promptu, sees more than the genius of the Swede could 
attain in months of almost sleepless study ! 

The listening company are satisfied, and of course pity 
the foreigner whose time and money are wasted on 
chimerical inventions. "What a smile of merriment 
passed around the board sparkling with wine, at the ludi- 
crous idea of steering a vessel whose locomotive power 
is attached to the stern ! When people can walk on their 
heads, or horses be harnessed to the back part of the wagon, 
then could the propeller be guided safely over the waters ! 
Nor was the decision of the admiralty the only fatal ex- 
pression of English indifference toward Captain Ericsson 
and his propeller. The engineering corps, designed to be 
the best practical machinists in the realm, were still more 
emphatic in their condemnation of the new navigator. 
In private, and in the scientific journals, it was afllrmed 
that the invention was wrong in principle, defective in con- 
struction, and so clearly worthless that no sane man 
would embark in the enterprise. 

It really seems all over with the Swede — he must cer- 
tainly abandon his propeller or England. Do you not 
think there is something in perseverance, even with geni;;3 
to use it? It has carried the hero of engineering over 
mountains and seas, and will make a way for success now, 
though the whole of scientific England is trying to crush him. 



LIFE OF JOHN ESICSSON. 87 

V 

Captain Ericsson had not forgotten that Britain had a 
daughter who had set up for herself across the Atlantic, 
quite equal to the mother in vigor and activity of thought. 
Indeed, it is doubtful whether the first propeller would 
have been built, had not a liberal Anaerican, representing 
for several years the United States as consul at Liver- 
pool — Francis B. Ogden, Esq., appreciated the genius of 
Ericsson, He was one of the few friends who joined 
him in his experiment, and his name was borne by the 
craft when she glided from her ways into the Thames. 

Mr. Ogden was widely known and respected for his 
gentlemanly and generous character, ever ready to en- 
courage worthy enterprises. He was also an inventor in 
the applications of steam to locomotion. Should you 
happen to see and examine marine engines having " right 
angular cranks," the engineer, if an intelligent man,, will 
tell you this form originated with Mr. Ogden. He was a 
pioneer in the navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi 
Kivers, by steaming up their currents, and in the grander 
transit over the ocean — " the world of waters" — ^without 
sails or oars. 

Even now the work of the great foreigner might have 
stopped or been greatly delayed, but for another gifted 
visitor from the new Republic — Captain E. F. Stockton 
of the Navy, since Commodore. He had for several 
years given the attention of his enthusiastic mind to gun- 
iiery and steam-engines. His grandfather was a signer 



88 LIFE OE JOUK EKICSSOK. 

of the Declaration of Independence. He was with Com ■ 
modore Rodgers, of the President, in the last war with 
England, and afterward with Commodore Decatur in the 
war upon the piratical Algerines ; still later,' he went to 
Africa in behalf of the colonization society, and secured, 
bj treaty, the territory on which was founded the Repub- 
lic of Liberia. 

'We cannot foUow this popular officer through his 
eventful career, but I will give you, in a few words, a lesson 
of the greatest worth to all the young, from his remark- 
able history : " During his whole period of service, he 
never refused or dechned to obey a single order of the 
Navy Department, nor did he ever ask to have any order 
modified or withdrawn, but always promptly obeyed, 
whatever might be the personal sacrifice ; nor was he, in 
one single instance, ever reprimanded by a superior in 
rank, or subjected to a court-martial for any acts official 
or otherwise." Captain Stockton, who had devoted much 
time and enthusiasm to gunnery and steam-engines, was 
in London while the Francis B. Ogden was running up 
and down the Thames to the people's vronder, and the 
cool contempt of the British engineers and Board of Ad- 
miralty. 

" Captain Stockton, give me the pleasure of your com- 
pany in an excursion on my propeller," said Ericsson to 
him one day. 

The invitation was accepted. And now watch the 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON'. 89 

little steamer pushing out on the Thames, with no gor- 
geous barge, and no dignified lords to sit in judgment on 
the invention. Captain Stockton walks from bow to stern, 
looks down upon the qidet wake behind, and then goes 
below to inspect the machinery. 

His quick and discerning mind sees at once the reahij 
of the new motive power. There was to him a revolu- 
tion in naval warfare in the revolutions of that curious 
fan-like wheel at the end of the vessel. Before the pro- 
peller could get from London Bridge to Greenwich, he 
ordered Captain Ericsson to huild two iron loots for the 
United States on the same plan. Bold act for a " Yankee " 
in the face of sis noblemen a.nd several times as many- 
engineers ! 

Hear his manly words : " I do not want the opinions 
of your scientific men ; what I have seen this day, satis- 
fies me." 

How the face of the inventor brightened while speech 
so different from that in the gay barge fell on his ears. 
The propeller is moored at Greenwich, and the company 
proceed to a sumptuous dinner. At the table Captain 
Stockton makes a fine address ; his remarkably clear 
voice ringing like a clarion with enthusiastic predictions 
of the future glory of the iuvention. Turning to Captain 
Ericsson, he said : " We'll make your name ring on the 
Delaware, as soon as we get the propeller there." 

The earnest and decided Stockton . fortunately was 



90 LITE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 

rich; for lie liad to build tlie steamers on his own ao 
count. Then he tried to interest our Government in the 
great invention. He expended large sums in getting 
plans and models for the Naval Department at Washing- 
ton, to convince them of the value of the propeller for 
ships of war. 

Such was his ardor, and assurance of national patron- 
age, that Captain Ericsson threw up all his engagements 
in England by an honorable arrangement, and started for 
America in the British Queen, in 1839 — ^his third, and 
we may believe, his final earthly home. 






CHAPTER Vin. 



Captain Stockton and the Faval Department of the United States— The new 
War- Vessel -The Privateer in New York Bay— The Eace— The marvels of 
the Victor. 



^ATTAIN STOCKTON urged the Navy Depart- 
ment to keep up with other nations in the march 
of improvement on the ocean — ^to get ready for 
the hour of trial of strength again, on the war- 
plain of waters. 
But he found some of the self-conceit and pride ia 
regard to novelties, which had tested the patience and 
hope of the Swede in England. Wise captains and offi- 
cials at the capitol were sure nothing could take the place 
of saUs in traversing the deep. 

At length, in 1841, Captain Stockton was permitted 
by the Government to construct a steam ship-of-war. 
"We had not then in this country any steam vessels in 
the navy. England had spent immense sums in trying to 
use the paddle-wheels, but with no permanent success for 



92 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

the fiery work of battle. The building of the war- 
steamer went slowly on for nearly two years. No parent 
ever watched the progress of a child, or artist his growing 
and fascinating work, with more intense and loving care, 
than Captain Ericsson did the rising structure, and its 
equipment for sea-service. Day after day, week after 
week, he issued his orders, and saw them carried out in 
his first American war-steamer, on the exact plan which 
had been rejected by the English Admiralty. He was 
soon to show the world which of the two parties, that 
naval court or himself, was wise. The vessel was 
launched, at length, on the Delaware, at Philadelphia, and 
at once awakened the deepest interest. 

The autumnal sun of October 20, 1843, had passed the 
meridian, anj lay in mellow radiance upon New York City 
and bay, when the human tides went surging down Broad- 
way toward the Battery. It needed no other evidence that 
some unusual spectacle was anticipated hj the multitude. 
Have you been in the great metropolis on a similar occa- 
sion? Then you will not forget it. How the throngs of 
all ages, colors, and conditions in life, pour into the grand 
thoroughfare from the streets crossing it, making the 
compact lines on the sidewalks, between which omnibuses 
and carriages of every kind are passing, look, from the 
elevation in the street near Union Square, or any com- 
manding position, like moving anacondas miles in length, 
in motion through every part ! If the display brings out 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 93 

the military companies and the banners, an exciting and 
magnificent sight is presented. 

On this October afternoon it was no civic or martial 
holiday, but a steam-regatfa on a small scale — a race 
between two ships — which kept the stream of humanity 
sweeping down the great channel of life, tiU the piers, and 
all standing places which afforded a fair view of the har- 
bor, were lined and covered with people. The eager mul- 
titude are gazing up and down the bay. Suddenly that 
noble steamer, the Great Western, whose first departure 
from our harbor a few years before, attracted a greater 
thi-ong if possible, comes in sight. It was then the finest 
specimen of naval architecture on the ocean. It was 
buUt by England, and admired as the wonder of steam 
navigation in its speed, beauty, and security. _ No better 
engines were carried by any ship, while its canvas- wings 
were large, and moved around tall and substantial 
masts. 

The city was moved by the departure of this model 
" floating-palace," and crowded the wharves to see it 
glide gracefully into the waters that washed the distant 
f!.o:C3 of England. That scene was not forgotten. 
^ ilajesticaUy now the Great "Western moves toward the 
Battery. The volume of smoke rises darkly from the 
fiei'y heart below, and with clouds of steam half mantle 
the ship from view. The vfheels revolve with unusual 
rapidity, and every sail is set. The white foam rolls 



94 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

away shoreward, like a billowy snow-drift parted by 
the rushing locomotive. It was a grand march of the 
ocean leviathan through the waters. Now she is passing 
the Battery, and " hurrah ! hurrah ! !" makes the " wel- 
kin ring again." How proudly the good ship flings out 
her defiance of competition in the spray that rises in 
showers from her prow ! 

The shouts of the multitude endorse the challenge. 
Away she moves swiftly and gracefully, a fourth of a 
mile from Castle Garden, when ten thousand eyes are 
turned toward the North River. What is that frigate-like 
ship, beautiful in outline, riding down against the tide? 
No columns of smoke, no jets of steam, no paddle-wheels 
or sails are visible. A model of naval architecture, like a 
spirit the strange competitor in the race glides right on- 
ward toward the Great "Western. Fresh volumes of 
smoke, and whiter clouds of steam, wrap this queen of 
our seas, and revolving wheels, spray, and foam, reveal 
the panting haste to elude the new rival to her supremacy. 
Steadily gaining, the singular craft reaches and passes the 
Great Western. Not content with this victory, a circle 
around her is swept, and again she is left behind. The 
successful racer is the war steamer Pkinceton, whose 
engine of motion is Ekicsson's Propeller. Commercial 
an3 marine speculators, who just now laughed at the 
stranger, begin to disparage the favorite paddle-wheel, 
and speak with respect of the victorious Princeton. How 



. LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 95 

unwieldy and exposed in her machinery is the Great 
Western compared with the propeller ! 

Mr. Mallory, of Floi'ida, declared in the Senate of the 
United States, years afterward, that the " Princeton wag 
the foundation of the present steam-marine of the world. 
And hereafter to send sail vessels into naval war service, 
was to have them captured." 

Having looked at the Princeton afloat, and winning 
the day in the chase, let us go aboard and examine the 
interior arrangements which shed lustre on the inventor's 
name. The spiral plates at'the end of the revolving shaft, 
which have the bird-wing motion, and are under the ves- 
sel's stern, are made of " composition metal." This is 
resorted to, because the copper bottom of the ship, acted 
upon by salt water, gives out a galvanic force vfhich cor- 
rodes iron, a process of decay that would soon render the 
machinety useless. Next above this cylinder and its 
wings, on the other side of the ship's bottom, we have an 
entirely new form of steam engine to move them. The 
" old-fashioned" boiler and the machinery connected with 
it, could not be placed helow the water-line ; that is, lower 
than the part of the vessel seen above the surface of the 
water. It was a thing unheard of till then. When you 
sit on the deck of a paddle-wheel steamer, you can hear 
and feel the hot pipes fi'om the boiler, and even watch tlie 
engine's motion. In the Princeton this you could not do. 
The whole motive power was beneath every thing but the 



90 LIFE 6F JOHN ESIGSSOI?r. 

partition whicli kept out the flood — the walls between tlia 
iron-harness of the steam and the deep. 

Captain Ericsson had invented and built an engine, so 
small, powerful, symmetrical, and exact, that it could be 
put in very narrow quarters, and " v/ork like a charm." 
lie obtained a patent for it in England and America. Its 
name is the " semi-cylindrical engine," because of the 
form of the cylinders. They are not round as in other 
engines, but half-circles. The piston-strokes, which you 
have observed and heard in steamers, up and down verti- 
cally, have a pendulum motion, in a horizontal direction. 
The piston-rods vibrate somewhat as the ordinary ones 
would if the cylinders were laid lengthwise on the deck. 
Unless you have studied the steam-engine thoroughly, 
and have seen this beautiful creation of genius, you can- 
not imderstand or appreciate the novelty and value of it. 
It required only one-eighth of the room occupied by a 
British marine engine of the same power, and weighed 
less than half as much. And then, far less machinery 
was required, while gi-eater power was obtained. Did 
you notice outside that there is no tall smoke pipe, rising 
like an iron chimney, to make a draft to kindle tlic fh-e 
and keep it burning? Would you like to know why? 
Examine more closely the inside work and you will ob- 
serve a curious contrivance, resembling wind-mills, whose 
fans revolve very swiftly when the steam " is up." These 
humming wheels with their frames are called " Mowers. " 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 97 

They are in tlie bottom of the ship, and throw in a cur- 
rent of air upon the furnaces so strong, that the height of 
the pipe is of suaall importance. It is not more than five 
feet high, and even if blown or shot away, the fires would 
Still bum. You will now find these blowers on all the 
steamers using anthracite coal. You cannot well avoid 
noticing them on the promenade decks of common river 
steamers using the coal. In finishing and furnishing 
the Princeton for fighting on the sea, the genius of Stock- 
ton and that of Ericsson were both employed, the two 
inventors working like brothers together. The former 
believed that larger cannon than any before used could be 
made of wrought instead of cast-iron ; that is, fashioned 
by machinery and hammers, instead of run, when the iron 
is melted, into a mould. He had two great guns manu- 
factured, one in England weighing seven tons, the other 
was forged by Ward & Co., of the Phoenix Foundry, New 
York, and weighed ten tons. The bore of the latter is 
twelve inches in diameter, and it carried a ball of two 
hundred and thirteen pounds weight. 

The nest question was how to manage on the ship's 
deck such immense instruments of death and destruction. 
The exhaustless brain which conceived the propeller, and 
the wonderful engine of the Princeton, answered that in- 
terrogation. A new gun-carriage was soon invented and 
ready, which would control the tremendous recoil, or 
5 



S8 LIFE or JOHN EEIOSSOK. 

hound hacJcward, when the charge rushed forth with its 
thunder-peal. Not only so, but with this carriage a few 
men could handle the massive iron tubes with ease. It 
was also made of wrought iron. Besides this remarkable 
mechanism, he contrived a curious lock, with which the 
law of gravitation and the rolling of the sea would dis- 
charge the gvin without a human hand. 

In 1828 he showed it to Sir Henry Vane, at the head 
of the British Ordnance Department, but he would not 
test it unless a numlper of officers could be appointed to 
sit with him in the examination ; and as that would let 
the secret out, Captain Ericsson preferred to lock up the 
lock in his safe. Captain Stockton was again wiser than 
the lords of England, and saw something in the invention. 
Nor did the Swede stop here. He gave to his friend, and 
to the world, an instrument for getting in a few seconds 
any distance at sea, from four hundred and fifty to four 
thousand yards. 

You wiU readily understand, my young reader, that 
for only a little way can a gun be fired direct, or in a 
straight line ; because allowances must be made for 
gravitation drawing the ball down toward the earth. 
To remedy this, when an object is distant, to hit it, the 
cannon must be elevated, to make allowance for the falling 
motion. It is, of course, important to know exactly how 
far oiF the ship or fort on the shore is, to aim right. Up 
to that time various contrivances had been employed, but 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 99 

none were accurate. Captain Ericsson produced just the 
beautiful and correct instrument for the valuable se^^'ice 
of the gunner. It tires one's brain to think of such cease- 
less work of another's thought. 



CHAPTER IX. 

What Captain Stockton says of the SMp— The Mysterious Warrior— The Peace- 
ful Work of the Propeller— What it is doing no\*. 

LTHOUGH you cannot remember the enthusiasm 
awakened wherever the Princeton was seen, 
you will read with interest the captain's descrip- 
tion of his toy^ written in the unsoiled cabin, 
twenty years ago. I forgot to tell you the name 
of the vessel was given in honor of his home then, and 
now, in the summer time, the capital of New Jersey. 

The following letter of Captain Stockton, descriptive 
of his noble ship, wiU be read with interest ; although 
none of my readers can remember the sensation produced 
by the Princeton on her first appearance in our waters : 

" United States Ship Princeton, ) 
Philadephia, February 5, 1844. ) 

" Sm : — The United States ship Princeton having re- 
ceived her armament on board, and being nearly ready 
for sea, I have the honor to "transmit to you the following 
account of her equipmen,t; '&c. : 






LITE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 101 

" The Princeton is a 'fuU-rigged ship,' of great speed 
and power, able to perform any service that can be ex- 
pected fronai a ship-of-war. Constructed upon the most 
appB-ived principles of naval architecture, she is believed 
to be at least equal to any ship of her class with her sails. 
She has an auxiliary power of steam, and can make 
greater speed than any sea-going steamer or other vessel 
heretofore built. Her engines lie snug in the bottom of 
the vessel, out of reach of an enemy's shot, and do not at 
all interfere with the use of the sails, but can at any time 
be made auxiliary thereto. She shows no chimney and 
makes no smoke, and there is nothing in her external ap- 
pearance to indicate that she is propelled by steam. 

" The advantages of the Princeton over both sailing- 
ships and steamers, propelled in the usual way, are great 
and obvious. She can go in and out of port at pleasure, 
without regard to the force or direction of the Avind or 
tide, or the thickness of the ice. She can ride safely with 
her anchors in the most open roadstead, and may lie to in 
the severest gale of wind with safety. She can not only 
save herself, but will be able to tow a squadron from the 
dangers of a lee shore. Using ordinarily the power of 
the wind, and reserving her fuel for emergencies, she can 
remain at sea the same length of time as other sailing- 
ships. Making no noise, smoke, or agitation of the water 
(and, if she chooses, showing no sail), she can surprise 
an enemy. She can at pleasure take her own position 



102 LIFE OF JOHNS' EKICSSOX. 

and her o^vn distance from the enemj. Her engines and 
water-wheel being below the surface of the water, safe 
from an enemy's shot, she is in no danger of being dis- 
abled, even if her masts shoiild be destroyed. She will 
not be at a daily expense for fuel, as other steamships are. 
The engines being seld(^m used, will probably outlast two 
such sliips. These advantages make the Princeton, in my 
opinion, the cheapest, fastest, and most certain ship-of- 
war in the world. The equipments of this ship are of the 
plainest and most substantial kind — the furniture of the 
cabins being made of white pine boards, painted white, 
with mahogany chairs, table, and side-board, and an 
American-manufactured oil-cloth on the floor. To econo- 
mize room, and that the ship may be better ventilated, 
curtains of American-manufactured linen are substituted 
for the usual and more cumbrous and expensive wooden 
btdkheads, by which arrangement the apartments of the 
men and officers may in an instant be thrown into one, 
and a degree of spaciousness and comfort is attained un- 
usual in a ship of her class. The Princeton is armed 
with two long 225-pound wrought-iron guns and twelve 
42-pound carronades, aU of which may be used at once on 
either side of the ship. She can consequently throw a 
greater weight of metal at one broadside than most 
frigates. The big guns of the Princeton can be fired 
with an effect terrific and almost incredible, and with a 
certainty heretofore unknoAvn. The extraordinary effects 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSOK. 103 

of the shot were proved by firing at a target, which was 
made to represent a section of the two sides and deck of 
a seventy-four-gun ship, and timbered, kneed, planked, 
and bolted in the same manner. This target was five 
hundred and sixty yards from the gun. With the smaller 
charges of powder the shot passed through these immense 
masses of timber (being fifty-seven inches thick) , tearing 
it away and splintering it for several feet on each side, 
and covering the whole surface of the ground for a hun- 
dred yards' square with fragments of wood and iron. The 
accuracy with which these guns throw their immense shot 
(which are three feet in circumference), may be judged 
by this : that six shot fired in succession at the same ele- 
vation struck the same horizontal plank in a target more 
than half a mile distant. "With Ericsson's fine instrument 
for the purpose, the remoteness of any object may be as- 
certained by an observation which it takes but an instant 
to make. By self-acting locks, the guns can be fired ac- 
curately at the necessary elevation, no matter what the 
motion of the ship may be. It is confidently believed that 
this small ship will be able to battle with any vessel, how- 
ever large, if she is not invincible against any foe. The 
improvements in the art of war adopted on board the 
Princeton, may be productive of more important results 
fchan any thing that has occurred since the invention of 
gunpowder. The boasted greatness of other navies giay 
be set at naught. The ocean may again become neutral 



104 LEFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

ground, and the rights of the smallest as well as the great* 
est nations naay once more be respected. 

" All of which for the honor and defence of every inch 
of our territory, is most respectfally submitted to tho 
honorable Secretary of the Navy, for the information of 
the President and Congi-ess of the United States, 
" By your obedient and faithful friend, 

"R. F. Stockton, 

" Captain U. S. Navy. 
" To Hon. David Henshaw, 

" Secretary of tlie J^avy." 

In the proud navy of the British Empire, and in that 
of France, there was no fiery-hearted leviathan that could 
equal the Princeton in speed, beauty, and security. And 
then almost smokeless, the warrior marched over the waters 
■ — and at night the pathway was noiseless, giving an 
enemy, by neither signal common to other steamers, any 
warning of the approach of the formidable foe. 

To a gi-eat degree independent of winds and waves, 
and shot, on the Avaste of waters, it is not strange that 
the world watched and wondered, while this solitary cor- 
sair, of the kind, seemed to be the monarch of the seas — 
the giant destined to wrest the sceptre from fabled Nep- 
tune's hand, and defy the fleets of the world. 

"But is the propeller good only for warfare ? " you 
may ask, unless you have travelled by steam, or live on 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 105 

tlie green banks of some river, or on the shore of old 
ocean. Its triumphs are greater as a peacemaker than 
fighter. Hitherto it had been difficult to use wind and 
steam — or, in other words, to make sails and paddle- 
wheels work together. For, when a nice breeze came 
freshly against the canvas, the vessel would careen or 
turn sidewise, lifting one of the wheels entirely or par- 
tially from the water ; and like a broken-winged bird, the 
ship was off balance. 

But the propeller does not mind Boreas at aU. Let 
the vessel Ke on one end, unless standing on its -prow, or 
lie on either side, and the spiral plates away under the 
stern revolve and push the freighted craft through the 
foam. If fuel is low, the captain has only to shut off 
steam, touch a lever, and release the propelling part, let- 
ting it whirl idly around. Then it does not affect, to any 
extent, the speed of the ship under the outspread canvas 
wings. 

If the fan-shaped wheel were fast to the engine, and 
drawn thus through the water, you vdll perceive, upon a 
moment's reflection, that it would seriously retard the 
progress of a ship when it was not in use. And now aU 
seas and rivers are hored by these " screw steamers." I 
allude to the " tugs." Ships great and small are traversing 
the waters borne safely and rapidly along by the power God 
first gave to birds and fishes ; and which, when learned 
by a single man, was rejected by others ia high places of 



106 LITE OF jomr ericsson. 

royalty. How wonderfully the Lord and Redeemer of the 
race, in his providence, leads the human mind and sight 
to his stores of knowledge and wealth ! The compass, 
printing, steam, coal mines, and now oil wells, show us 
how wisely he adapts discovery and invention to the edu- 
cation of the world, and its preparation for a proncused 
millennium. 



CHAPTER X. 



The CJongressional Excursion on board the Princeton— The Captain and hia 
Ship — Coronation Dinner — The Second Excursion — The Terrible Accident — 
The Cause of it. 



)N the twentieth day of February, 1844, the Prince- 
ton was a floating hall of Congress. The novel 
and magnificently-armed war-ship was fuU of 
social life under the flying banners of our coun- 
try. I will give you glimpses of the scenes of 
that memorable excursion, from the pen of one of the 
favored party ; because it will make the almost forgotten 
and romantic incident seem like an exciting pageant of the 
present : * 

" Washington, Tuesday, February 20, 1844. 
" When the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon, 
who, it is said, was somewhat partial to ladies, she de- 
clared upon her sacred honor that not the half had been 
told her of the power and glory and gallantry of the illus- 
trious philosopher-king, the mighty successor of the min- 



108 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 

strel monarch of the golden city of Zion ; so it is impos- 
sible to teU you the half that we saw and heard and 
enjoyed in the excursion given to the House of Repre- 
sentatives by Captain Stockton, of the steam frigate 
Princeton, this day. 

" The morning was propitious, auspicious, and toler- 
ably delicious. The atmosphere, it is true, was rather 
misty and overclouded, but the wind was from the right 
quarter, the golden angel upon the steeple of the Rev. 0. 
B. Brown's church held her trumpet steadfastly to the 
south. At half-past ten, in company with two of our 
representatives, Messrs. Morris and McCauslen, of the 
House, we set out on foot for Greenlief's Point, at the 
southern extremity of the city, distant about two miles ; 
but the mud was impassable, and so we accepted the offer 
of a passing hackman and rode it. 

" Arrived at the landing, we discovered the Prince- 
ton, with her graceful keel, her tall and tapering spars, 
lying but a mile off in the stream. Several boats and a 
'broadhorn' were kept flying to and fro between ship and 
shore for nearly an hour, in the transportation of the party. 

" The marines were discovered drawn up in line on 
the upper deck as we mounted through the porthole. 
When the Avhole company of visitors were aboard (some 
three hundred persons) the ship was put in motion by her 
invisible and almost noiseless machinery in the hold. We 
found the Princeton armed with twelve 4:2-pounder3 



LIFE OF JOKN" ERICSSON. 109 

% 

and two tremendous pieces of ten tons weight each of 
wrought iron, carrying a ball of two hundred and thirty- 
pounds for two miles with the precision of a rifle, all on 
the upper deck. The two great guns are fixed at the bow 
and stern of the ship, and are called the ' Peacemaker * 
and the ' Oregon.' These two 'biirsters' are as bright 
as Aunt Peggy's pewter plates on Saturday evening, shin- 
ing aU in a row on the top shelf Of the kitchen-cupboard. 
When the ship was fairly under way, Captain Stockton, 
mounting one of the guns, said : ' Now, gentlemen of the 
House of Representatives, fellow-citizens, and shipmates, 
we are going to give a salute to the wisdom of this mighty 
republic (God bless her !) in Congress assembled. Stand 
firm and you will see how it feels ! ' In rapid succession 
the pieces were fired, the ship thrilling and the distant 
hills reverberating with the thunder peals. The instan- 
taneous combustion of forty pounds of gunpowder in a 
discharge from the ' Peacemaker' closed the round of 
twenty-six guns. The deck of the ship was enveloped in 
smoke. "We came near falling over the venerable ex- 
President Adams in the momentary darkness. Captain 
Stockton's voice rose high amid the din of battle. ' It's 
nothing but honest gunpowder, gentlemen ; it has a strong 
smell of the Declaration of Independence, but it's none 
the worse for that. That's the kind of music when nego- 
tiations fail. It has a little ring of the earthquake, but it 
teUg handsomely on salt water.' 



110 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 

" In due season the deputation of visitation were 
called to dinner in the cahin on the middle deck, extend 
ing the whole length of the ship. It was a feast of sub- 
stantial and delicacies worthy the coronation-day of a 
South American emperor. Ducks and chickens, turkeys 
and hams, beef d-lormode^ partridges, &c. ; ice creams, 
oranges, apples, raisins, almonds, &c. 

" The ship passed below Alexandria, till the hill of 
Mount Vernon and the sacred residence of Washington 
loomed into view on the right, and the frowning battle- 
ments of Fort Washington on the left, when she turned 
about and returned. Several experimental shots were 
made from the 'Peacemaker' during the trip ; and those 
solid balls of two hundred and thirty pounds skimmed the 
surface of the water for several miles with the lightness 
of an arrow. 

" The utter astonishment and amazement which she 
created among the inhabitants upon the banks of the river 
is not easily conceived, as they behold this fairy phantom- 
ship, without a patch of sail spread upon her spars, or a 
living soul upon her decks — -without the slight evidence 
of steam, fire, light, or life, on board, stiU ploughing her 
onward way through the immense thickness of ice, rip- 
ping, tearing, brealdng, crushing it with irresistible pow- 
er — mirahile dictu I The Messrs. Harpers will please 
issue proposals for a new edition of the ' Arabian Nights,' 
and Irving must retouch his legends of the ' Flying Dutch* 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. Ill 

man ; * for the age of romance is come again. To-day 
the captain invigorates, advises, and prepares ; and to- 
morrow the President and suite — a private party — will 
visit the Priaceton, It will be a select party." 

A week later, the war-propeller was again the scene 
of display and festivity, and also of awfullest tragedy. 
A spectator gave a sketch of the excursion and its thrill- 
ing events, which have an impressive lesson of life's frailty, 
and God's power and nearness to us all : 

" On the 28th of February the President, Cabinet, 
and a large number of members of Congress and distin- 
guished strangers in Washington, went on board the 
Princeton for an experimental excursion. The beauty and 
the chivaby of the United States assembled at the seat 
of Government were also present. A more gay, joyous, 
or delighted company seldom before were ever gathered 
together on the deck of any one of our national ships. 
It was a beautiful, bright day, and the resplendent sun 
blazed upon the firmament without a cloud to threaten 
his effulgence. The Potomac was unruffled by a breeze, 
its glassy surface presenting the lustre and serenity of a 
perfect mirror. As the Princeton, without the aid of 
vnud or current, smoothly pursued her way as if moved 
by some unseen agency, no cloud of smoke marked her 
progress, no uncouth sounds of jarring machinery, min , 
gled with the voice of festivity which rose in pleasant 
harmony from the deck of the gallant vessel. There 



112 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON". 

were grave matrons, mothers of the naval and army 
heroes of the country ; there were illustrious senators 
a.nd curious statesmen ; and there were youth and beauty, 
light hearted and joyous. There, too, were gallant post- 
captains, generals, distinguished engineers, and men of 
science, come to feast their eyes upon this nautical won- 
der, this gem of the ocean, this last effort of American 
genius, skill, and architectviral ingenuity. 

" It is not possible to suppose that the heart of the 
gallant commander did not throb with patriotic exultation, 
or that he did not consider aU his risks in past years, his 
toils, his hardships, the sneers of enemies and the derision 
of the ignorant, more than compensated by the universal 
homage which rewarded success. He had attained the 
goal of his hopes for the navy and for his country ; yet 
from the lofty height of honorable exultation, in a single 
instant with the flash of a gun, he was plunged into woe 
unutterable, and prostrated to the earth with the groans 
of the dying, and the lamentations of the living, falling 
on his ear, and breaking his heart. 

" During her progress down the Potomac, the great 
guns on the Pi'inceton had been again and again dis- 
charged, until pubhc curiosity appeared to be satiated. 
The company had retired below, and at the festive board 
the voice of hilarity resounded through the decks of the 
proud ship. Toasts were given appropriate to the occa- 



LIFE OF JOHN ESICSSOH". 113 

sion, and all went merry as marriage-bells. The feast 
of reason and flow of soul was nearly spent. 

" Some of the guests had commenced retiring from 
the board and renewing their scrutiny on the different 
parts of the ship. Captain Stockton had risen to offer a 
toast complimentary to the Chief Magistrate of the repub- 
lic. As he rose, with his wine-glass fiUed in his hand, an 
oificer entered and informed him that some of the com- 
pany desired one of the great guns to be again discharged. 
Captain Stockton shook his head, and saying, " No more 
guns to-night," dismissed the officer. He soon again re- 
turned, while Captain Stockton was speaking on the sub- 
ject of his toast, with a message from the Secretary of 
the Navy expressive of his desire to see one of the big 
guns fired once more. This message Captain Stockton 
considered equivalent to an order, and immediately went 
on deck to obey it. He placed himself upon the breech 
of the gun, aimed, and fii'ed. Feeling a sensible shock, 
stunned and enveloped in a cloud of smoke, for an instant 
he could not account for his sensations. But, in a few 
seconds, as the smoke cleared, and the groans of the 
wounded and the shrieks of the bystanders who were un- 
hurt resounded over the decks, the terrible catastroplie 
which had happened was revealed. But in that appalling 
hour when other men would have been paralyzed, he, of 
of all the crowd around, seemed to have clear thought and 
self-possession. He was severely hurt, yet calmly and 



114 LIFE OF JOKPT ESICSSON. 

distinctly his voice pealed over tlie elements of confusion ; 
a few brief orders, recalling his men to a sense of duty, 
were given ; the dead and wounded were ascertamed, and 
properly cared for ; when, as he turned to leave the sad 
scene, he fell exliausted in the arms of his men, and was 
borne insensible to his bed. 

" The unfortunate sufferers by the explosion who were 
killed were the Hon. Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of State ; 
the Hon. Thomas W. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy ; 
Captain Beverly Kennon, U. S. NaA'y ; Hon. Virgil 
Moxey, of Maryland ; and the Hon. David Gardiner, 
father-in-law of the President." 

I shall always carry the impression of that fearful 
day. The tidings went over the land like the shadow of 
an ecHpse. Not because life was more precious in itself - 
to the distinguished men thus suddenly summoned to 
eternity ; but not often does a fatal accident strike so 
heavily upon the honored in a nation's high places of 
power. 

• . A naval court of inquiry attached no blame either to 
Captain Ericsson or Commander Stockton. The gun and 
its firing seem to have been on scientific principleaJ The 
accident was oue of those providential bolts that fall fi'ora 
a clear sky, crushing human hearts and hopes. They 
come down everywhere, and no skiU or care of man car 
ward them off. They teach us the folly of our wisdom 
before Him " who touches the hiUs and they melt," and 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 115 

that he is no respecter of persons ; enforcing the Redeem- 
ex''s words, " Be ye also ready." 

Such scenes as crimsoned the Princeton's deck echo 
those words of song : 

*' And like yon sea is human life ; 
Events like billows roll ; 
Moment on moment, strife on strife, 

That change us to the soul ; 
And joys like autumn leaves fall fast ; 
Hope sets — and being's light is past" 



CHAPTER XI. 



A. new Meld of Invention— The "Wakeful and "Working Genius taught afresh by 
the Dirine Law in Nature— The Caloric Engine— The "Wise Men of Eng- 
land again — The Present and Future of Motive Powers — The Propeller is a 
success I 



HAVE "watched on the broad Dela"ware "with great 
interest "while "writing this, the "steam-tugs" al- 
most hourly puffing along, dra"wing in their "wake 
the noble ship, or a score of canal boats, forming a 
train for a good distance behind them. Who that 
knew the history of Ericsson could fail to think of his toy 
in the bath, and of the " Flying DevU" on the Thames? 
We "will leave the humble yet mighty power in peace 
and "war, girdling the globe, and follo"w the great genius 
of the cold north in his next sublime effort. Not only 
had he "watched the birds and fishes, and learned splendid 
lessons from those unconscious teachers, but he had studied 
nature in her manifold operations, and had found deep 
meaning in Bryant's poetical language : 



LIFE OF JOHliT ERICSSON. 117 

" To him who in the love of Nature holds 
Communiou with her grandest forms, 
She speaks a various language." 

Let us go witli him to Niagara Falls. Standing on 
Table Rock, we gaze awhile upon the rushing, foaming, 
thundering flood, bewildered and awed by the grandeur 
of the scene. A rainbow arches the brow of this American 
Cataract, and a white cloud of incense ascen(!!s perpetually 
from his altar. Compared with his European brother, 
around whose domain the Grand Canal rises on the moun- 
tain-side, his home is a world of itself. 

How inexpressible and mingled the emotions as you 
look and listen ! Down the river, on the bank, you can 
see the spot where a beautiful young lady, leaning over 
the brink to pluck a lovely flower, lost her balance and 
went down a hundred feet to the rocks below. She was 
taken thence to the hotel to gasp and die. In sadly 
musing mood you think of the shipwreck for two worlds 
made every day by just such endeavor to pluck a danger- 
ous and momentary pleasure. 

But turning to the inventive genius near, while not 
insensible to the magnificence of the unrivalled cataract, he 
is deeply absorbed in certain practical suggestions made 
to him by the falls. Comprehensive and startling are 
his calculations j He will tell you that the amount of 
water in that descending sheet is twenty-eight thousand 
tons every second of time. That is, nearly three and a 



118 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

half billions of pounds go over tlie precipice, one hundred 
and fifty feet high, each minute. This is equal to five 
hundred trillions of pounds in a minute, through the dis- 
tance of one foot. Now, apply a simple rule of arith- 
metic, division, and ascertain how many times thirty- 
three thousand, which is the number of pounds it is esti- 
mated that a single horse can draw a foot in a minute, 
is contained in that vast sum, and the answer will 
be, fifteen millions ; in other words, the water-power of 
Niagara Falls is equal to the strength of fifteen millions 
of horses, aij^d that unceasingly. But the St. Lawrence 
has a great deal of descent and power besides the cataract. 
To make by steam the same amount of engine force, would 
require annually th'ee hundred millions of tons of coal. 
For to create power by steam as great as that of a horse, 
would consume twenty tons of coal every year. Think 
of this tremendous force at work night and day ! Then 
think of all the rivers and smaller streams, with their de- 
scending flow and waterfall, from the TroUhattan of Sweden 
to the Niagara of America, and what " a stupendous force 
is here exhibited ! " So far as mechanical use is con- 
cerned, it is almost a waste. And yet nature moves on, 
never resting, never failing ! The tremendous forces are 
somehow fed with new strength continually, and in this 
sense are a perpetual motion. But Captain Ericsson 
went fui'ther in his curious calculations. He made an 
estimate of power in animate creation. That is, the 



LIFE OF JOBOsT EKICSSON". 119 

strength put forth by animals, including man physi- 
cally. 

And how do you suppose he got at such a, calculation? 
He hegan with man. It is found that he can exert power 
which would raise fifty pounds a hundred feet every minute 
for eight hours out of the twenty-four. To make it plain, 
any person of ordinary strength has force enough to lift 
that amount daily for one-third of the time. Of course 
all people cannot do it, but this is the average. Do you 
recoUect the estimated population 6f the globe ? It is be- 
lieved to be a billion. According to the calculation, then, 
the human beings of the earth have a force equal to 
thirty millions horse power. In other words, a billion of 
persons exert the power of thirty millions of horses ! 
Captain Ericsson, without being able to number all the 
animals and estimate their power, concluded he might 
safely put down quadrupeds as equal in force to mankind ; 
and the inhabitants of the sea, beginning with the whale, 
often possessing the force of twenty horses, greater still. 
To sum up the novel and yet grand estimate of force, he 
called the united power of all animate beings, more than 
equivalent to an engine of one hundred million horse power. 
You know Archimedes the great mechanician said, that 
if he had a fulcrum, or point outside of the globe for his 
lever, he could lift it — so mighty were the means of raising 
weights invented and employed by him. Captain Ericsson 
says, if he could buM an en^ne large enough to wield ^ 



120 LIFE OF JOHlSr EEICSSOIf. 

force equal to that of tlie living creatures in the world, iJ 
would have one hundred millions horse power ! Sup- 
posing the tremendous engine built, how much coal would 
it need to feed its fires ? An engine of one horse power | 
requires twenty tons of anthracite a year. Therefore, two 
thousand millions of tons annually would be consumed by 
the mammoth steam-power. In a hundred years it would 
exhaust a bed of coal three thousand square miles, a hun- 
dred feet thick. '^ And yet Captain Ericsson saw, as we 
can see, that nature does a vaster work, is unceasingly 
using her forces without change, and with no supply of 
power out of herself. \ The riVer murmurs down its chan- 
iiel, or thunders over a battlement of rock ; men and ani- 
mals continually exert force, and draw ever fresh sup- 
plies Avith no outside means of renewal, and without waste. 
These curious and interesting facts in the material creation, 
suggested the next^wonder of his unresting intellect, the 
Caxoric Ekgine. 

I think, with a little attention, my young reader will 
get a correct idea of this invention, a marvellous and 
beautiful thing indeed. The foundation principle is, to 
use the atmosjphere instead of steam, and make the heat 
expan4iiig it under the pistons, do its work over and over 
again. ] You know that the heat which tm'ns the water to 
steam, in each volume of it passes off with the vapor. 
Therefore the fires must be kept fiercely burning. Captain 
Ericsson could not see • why this waste should not be 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 121 

aroided, and as elsewhere, nature save her forces, and 
the engine more nearly resemble the falling river, or 
active animal form taking care of, and using the means 
of exerting power. If so, then a fire, for which an 
amount of fuel so exceedingly small would be needed, 
that it could be found anywhere, would keep a large en- 
gine in motion. For, kindle a flame in the caloric engine, 
and the expanded air pushes the piston up and down as 
the steam does ; whUe, by an ingenious apparatus called the 
regenerator, that coloric is sent back to push again. The 
only loss must be the trifliug amount of heat which passes 
off, or is radiated during the time it is travelling about to 
do its work. There is no wearing out of the caloric, no 
change by using it. It had been, and is wasted by steam 
power. And this, as I have intimated, demands the im- 
mense quantities of fuel which keep the furnaces in blast 
under the boilers. In the low-pressure engine, the steam, 
after forcing up the piston, is turned into a condensing ap- 
paratus, which makes water of it again, and down the 
piston rushes through the cylinder to be lifted again. 
Plainly, the heat which expanded the volume of steam, 
goes with it into the water. The high-pressure engine has 
, no condenser, but the steam pushes both ways, and is let 
off into the atmosphere, carrying the caloric with it. 
Thus the heat cannot be returned with steam-power, but 
the fires must furnish a new supply. In the permanent 
gases, that is, those that keep their form like the air, how 
6 



122 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON-. 

clear it is that the heat in any volume of it can be moved 
about with it, untU by a gradually cooling process it is 
thrown off and spread over a larger extent of the atmos- 
phere. 

"And what did the wise men of England say to the 
caloric engine ? " you inquire. 

You can " guess" from the experience our engineer had 
with his propeller. 

When, in 1833, after much study and many experi- 
ments, he presented the invention to the scientific men of 
London, all of them excepting the two splendid and lead- 
ing chemists of the kingdom. Professor Faraday and Dr. 
Ure, displayed the same wisdom which shed such glory 
upon the lords of the admiralty ! They pronounced the 
principle of the caloric engine as they did that of the 
propeller, false, and therefore worthless. Nature and 
Ericsson were forever under the eclipse of English science. 
A working engine of five-horse power did not light up the 
night of condemnation of the invention. 

But Sir Richard Phillips, an author well known in the 
literary world, examined it, and had to confess it did looJc 
well. He published a Dictionary of the Arts of Life and 
of Civilization, in which he records of the caloric engine : 

" The author has, with inexpressible delight, seen the 
first model machine of five-horse power at work. With 
a handful of fuel applied to the very sensible medium of 
the atmospheric air, he beheld a resulting action in nar 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 123 

row compass, capable of extension to as great force as 
ever can be wielded or used by man." 

One day Lord Althorp, since Earl Spencer, Secretary 
of the Home Department, entered the engine-room where 
the new iron worker was busy — his heart not large but 
warm — his strong arms moving gracefully, and every part 
adapted to the end designed. "With the nobleman there 
was the venerable Mr. Brimel, the celebrated architect 
of the Thames Tunnel, which you know is a grand 
passage-way under the river, and a very magnificent piece 
of engineering. The home secretary selected him to 
judge of the caloric engine, because of his knowledge and 
experience. But sometimes age unfits a person to be im- 
partial in the judgment of a new discovery or invention, 
there being a prejudice against innovations upon older and 
familiar things for the same general purpose. Somehow 
Mr. Brunei had made up his mind that Captain Ericsson's 
machine was unsound in theory ; no matter how finely 
piston-rod, crank, and wheel might move, there was cer- 
tainly a defect, even if he couldn't see it. 

" The engine works very well, Mr. Brunei," remarked 
Lord Althorp, as they left the apartment in which the 
Swede kept his last specimen of mechanism, which had 
cost him many weeks of profound study. 

" Yes, my lord, it has motion, but can never be avail- 
able in practical mechanics. It is vrrong in principle— 
certainly wrong, my lord." 



124: LITE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

This sage opinion, adverse to the invention, went to 
the British Government, and naturally created indiffer- 
ence there. Letters were written by Captain Ericsson to 
Mr. Brunei, and answered ; but in vain the genius of the 
inventor endeavored to shed its clear light upon the mind 
of the engineer. He had the true English obstinacy 
which frequently looks like stupidity. The correspondence 
ceased, and I suppose Mr. Brunei pitied the fancy-inventor, 
whose comparative youth was an excuse for his failures. 

Professor Faraday, the chemist, was more disposed 
to approve, at least fairly test the caloric engine. One 
day you might have seen in the " London Times" and in 
other advertising forms, a notice that the professor would 
give a " Lectm-e on the Caloric Engine in the Theatre of 
the Royal Institution." The hour came, and with it a 
large and very intelligent audience. The lecturer, and 
the novel and highly-interesting subject to scientific men, 
gathered an assemblage of people seldom convened. The 
noble and the most thoroughly educated were there. I 
need not assure you that Captain Ericsson was present. 
The occasion was brilliant, and much was expected from 
its oracular words. Glance ovex that spacious and elegant 
hall, and watch both the intellectual faces of the immense 
throng, and the company on the platform. There stands 
a scholar and a fine gentleman, but somehow a little em- 
barrassed. He does not seem quite at home. What can 
the matter be? 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 125 

I will teU you. Until half an hour before the many 
hundreds poured into the theatre, Professor Faraday had 
intended to explain and defend the wonderful invention 
of the Swede. But suddenly he discovered, no one knows 
how, that he was mistaken in his idea of the machine. 
The expansion of the air is, after aU, false in theory, in 
its application to locomotion. So the learned orator he- 
gins : ■ ' 

" 3Ir. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen : Although I 
have devoted many hours to the study of the caloric 
engine, I am compelled to inform you at the very 
outset of my lecture, that / do not know why it works 
at aU." 

A luminous beginning, you will say. The intelligent 
hearers must have felt their anticipations go down like 
mercury in a thermometer when exposed to a frosty wind. 
The chemist, however, confined himself to the Regener- 
ator. This invention, you remember, returns the heat 
after it is used in the cylinder to move the piston, back 
again to be applied to the same purpose ; in other words, 
it renews the force by saving the coloric which is lost in 
stes-jn. The eloquent speaker, the " golden-mouthed" 
lecturer, charmed his audience with the description of this 
invention, respecting which there could be no doubt or 
denial. 

Besides the misapprehension and indifference of Eng- 
land's great men, there were defects in the engine which 



126 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

hindered its success. Tlie high degree of heat in the air 
injured the machinery by a kind of rusting process, which 
rapidly spoiled the piston's valves, and other parts of the 
machinery. To remedy the evil, Captain Ericsson went 
ouce more to his study. 



■I 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Inventor's Inventions — He is sure of Success with his Caloric Engine— Tiifi 
Improvements — The Brilliant Achievements in America — The Trial-trip — 
The Engine a "Worker Still— Its Enture. 

FEW years of comparative quiet in Captain 
Ericsson's life, follows the grand trimnph of tlie 
Princeton. But he is not idle. His genius, how- 
ever, is producing new marine machinery, and 
adding to the improvements of peaceful mechan- 
ism. Nor is his Caloric Engine forgotten. 

In 1851 the great Industrial Exhibition of all Nations 
was held in London. Amid the magnificent and bewil- 
dering display of art and invention, in a modest corner, 
were the following creations of a thinking mind, bearing 
the name of Ericsson. The " Distance Instrument," for 
measuring distances at sea, giving, as no contrivance had 
ever done before, quickly and accurately the distance of 
an object from the ship at sea. It was, you will readily 
understand, especially valuable in gunnery, aiding mate- 
rially in taking aim. It is farther explained in its use on 



128 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

the Princeton. The " Hydrostatic Gauge " is for meas- 
uring the volume of fluids when under pressure. The 
" Eeciprocating Fluid Meter " measures the quantity of 
water which passes through pipes during certain periods. 
The "Alarm Barometer" gives warning of sudden 
changes in the weather. The "Pyrometer" is designed 
to measure temperature from the freezing point of water 
to the melting heat of iron. The " Rotary Fluid Meter " 
is constructed on the principle of measuring fluids, as 
water, by the volocity with which they flow through aper- 
tures of definite dimensions. The new " Sea Lead" will 
give the soundings or depth, without " rounding the ves- 
sel to the wind," in the ordinary way, and independently 
of the length of the line. 

Though you may not have *a clear idea of the value 
and use of all these inventions, you wiU discern the mar- 
vellous power of the intellect which produced them, while 
making Propellers and Caloric Engines, with many other 
contributions of scientific skUl. 

For the articles of mechani'sm mentioned. Captain 
Ericsson received the prize medal of the Exhibition. In 
1852 he was made Knight of the Order of Vasa, by King 
Oscar of Sweden — a royal honor the now plain republi 
can cared less for than he did for a single success as in- 
ventor. Indeed, so busy was he at that very time on the 
Caloric Engine, he scarcely read the certificate of knighlr 
hood. 



LIFE OP JOHN ERICSSON. 129 

In February, 1853, again a crowd passed down Broad- 
way, and wound their way through the streets to one of 
the whcirves. 

" And what new naval wonder now? *' you ask. 

There lies gracefully on the water, a vessel of two 
thousand tons, not very different in general appearance 
from other ships. But the newspapers had told the peo- 
ple that its engine was worked by Jieated air instead of 
steam — which the English lords and engineers, you re- 
member, had declared could not be done. Soon a select 
party are on board, the anchor is lifted, the hot-air turned 
into the cylinder, and away the vessel glides " out to sea." 
She is bound for Alexandria, on the Potomac. The 
heavens become overcast, and the wind tosses the waves. 
But onward through gale and foam the good bark moves, 
breathing the atmosphere the passengers do, only a little 
warmer ; the iron heart throbbing steadily for seventy-three 
hours, without pausing to rest a moment. Not a change 
or adjustment of the machinery is necessary for those three 
days' sail. 

Like the Francis B. Ogden, which the Thames boat- 
men called the " Flying Devil" the caloric ship, almost 
without smoke or sound, walks the waters 

" Like a thing of life." 

The furnace required only five tons of coal in twenty- 
four hours — much less than any other ship of the same 
6* 



130 LIFE OF JOHN ESIOSSOlSr. 

size. An eager crowd welcomed the strangei at Alex- 
andria. 

Soon afterward, on one of the last days of winter, you 
might have seen a procession of men headed toward the 
" Ekicsson." The people come out to see it pass ; for 
the President of the United States, the President-elect, 
Franklin Pierce, the Cabinet, many naval officers, and 
members of Congress, form that imposing company. 
They step on board, go from deck to hold, and after 
hearty words of congratulation upon the success of the 
caloric engine, they retire. Then follows a visit from 
the foreign ministers. The proud Englishman outwitted 
by the Swede, the autocratic Russian, the polite French- 
man, and the dignified German, all admire and wonder, 
and then depart, musing over the strange things with 
which the " Yankee nation " is startling the world. A 
little later, a fine procession of Virginians— the legislature 
then in session — -in a body, proceeded to the estrordinary 
ship. 

The law-makers of the "Old Dominion" — that 
" mother of Presidents," and the " mother of slaves " — 
now the central or grand battle-field of the Republic, 
examined in every part, and were delighted with the 
beautiful craft. They invited Captain Ericsson, through 
a committee, to visit Richmond, as tlie guest of the 
State. 

The Secretary of the Navy recommended to Congress 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 131 

the passage of a resolution, authorizing him to contract 
for the building of a frigate of two thousand tons, with 
caloric engines, costing half a million of dollars. But an 
unexpected hindrance to the complete revolution in motive 
power, which many anticipated, arose. The caloric en- 
gine was a slower iron-horse than the steam-power, and 
the cost of large engines was too great for private purses. 
Still what a triumph ! The miner-boy of the "Wermeland 
iron mountains, entertaining on shipboard Presidents, the 
highest officers of the Republic, and the representatives of 
Eviropean monarchies, aU admiring the work of his genius ; 
a worJcing genius, which for sixteen hours out of twenty- 
four will bend over the table and throw off diagrams 
nearly as rapidly as the printer does the sheets from his 
press. 

Captain Ericsson set himself to the business of im- 
provement. He taught the lesson to us all never to be 
disheartened by failures, and also never to be satisfied 
short of perfection. In study, in every task, and in re- 
ligious life, this is the lesson God would impress upon us 
in his "Word and works. 

The caloric engine has grown more and more useful 
in the hands of the inventor. Over two hundred of 
the engines are now at work sawing, turning machinery, 
operating telegraphic machines, and propelling boats. 

Who can tell us what the caloric engine may be and 
do half a century hence, or evena before the year 1875 ? 



132 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 

Some of you may live to see the name of Ericsson out- 
shine that of Fulton ; because the steam engine is then 
among the relics of the past, and the safer, more ecbnom 
ical rival, has the empire of the waters under his sceptre 
of locomotion. We are living fast, and rapidly God ia 
educating the world. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

The Rebellion— Eevolutions in Sweden— Outbreaks in ;he United States— Oru 
Army and Navy — Captain Ericsson when the CivU War opened. 

\E come to the great rebellion in the American 
Repulilic, and tlie connection of our inventor 
with it. His own native Sweden had been no 
stranger to revolutions. For ten centuries, 
the period of which there is an outline his- 
tory, there was a succession of popular movements often 
culminating in scenes of bloodshed. 

The last before he left the shores of Sweden was when 
Russia gave to that Government Norway, because she 
joined the great powers leagued together to crush Napo- 
leon. This has been already noticed. It may be both 
interesting and instructive to pause here a moment, and 
glance over the annals of rebellion in this republic. 

The first movement which could properly bear that 
name, was a proposition made by officers of the Federal 



134 LIFE or JOHN EEICSSON. 

army in 1782, to consolidate into one government the 
thirteen colonies or States, and enthrone George Wash- 
ington, virtually, if not formally, making him king. 
The treason of course failed ; fot it was an attempt 
to betr.ay liberty itself, after a fearful sacrifice to main- 
tain it. 

The next outbreak of a popular character, was the 
Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts in 1786-'87. Com- 
plaints had arisen against the taxation, the aristocracy of 
the Senate, the governor's salary, and other public acts 
and statutes. The revolt was fait'ly organized when Cap- 
tain Daniel Shays, December, 1786, took command of 
the armed forces, numbering two thousand men. They 
broke up the courts at Worcester and Springfield, and 
marched on the arsenal at the latter place to take it. The 
militia under General Shepherd met the rebels, fired into 
their ranks, and soon dispersed them. Fourteen were 
tried and condemned to death, but afterward, with the 
captain, were pardoned. 

Eight years later the Wliiskey Insurrection raged 
awhile in Pennsylvania, because of the tax imposed on 
the stimulant. 

Twenty years more passed, when, in 1814, the oppo- 
sition to the war with England took a threatening shape 
in the " Hartford Convention." This assembly held its 
sessions with closed doors for twenty days. The dele- 
gates, who were from the New England States, com- 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 135 

plained of violations of the Constitution in the procla- 
mation and prosecution of war. But 'pajper battles only 
resulted from the exciting demonstration. 

When the question of admitting Missouri into the 
Union in 1820 was agitated, 'a deep and alarming oppo- 
sition to the T\ddeniQg area of slavery was apparent. The 
excitement was allayed by the " Compromise," which ex- 
cluded slavery from aD. territories north of latitude 36° 
30'. Its repeal was the far-off tocsin of martial conflict, 
and the death-knell of slavery, though intended to suppress 
discussion of it, and to extend its dark dominion. It was 
treason to freedom, of which the civil conflict is the gxand 
tragedy and settlement. 

The negro race was not alone in oppression, nor as an 
occasion of testing the justice and strength of the Eepub- 
iic. In 1828 and the two years following comraenced the 
effort to remove the Indians from Georgia, and get their 
lands. The Supreme Court of the United States decided 
against the injustice of the State, but the verdict was set 
aside by Georgia, thus resisting the General Government. 
The robbery went on, and added to our account as a na- 
tion, with Him, of whose equity and power even Thomas 
Jefferson said, " I tremble for my country when I remem- 
ber that God is just, and that his justice wUl not sleep 
forever ! " 

Right in the wake of this crime came the " South 
Carolina Nullification" in 1832. John C« Calhoun had 



loG • LIFE OF JOHN EEIOSSON. 

advocated the false doctrine of the independence of the 
States ; that is, the right of each commonwealth to crit- 
icize the Government at "Washington, and condemn and 
resist measures deemed to be an invasion of the sover- 
eignty of a State. 

When the tariff for collecting revenue did not agree 
with the views of South Carolina, there was rebellion. 
She determined to confront the National Administration. 
BvTt General Jackson was not the man to trifle with trea- 
son, and soon pointed the cannon toward its headquarters, 
Charleston Harbor. Then followed a calm of nearly 
thirty years in the fiery " Palmetto State." 

In 1842 the Dorr Rebellion broke out in Rhode Island. 
The ground of hostility to the authorities was the unequal 
representation of the people, the basis of it being the de- 
fective charter from Charles II. in 1663. Thomas Wil- 
son Dorr was the leader of the revolt. Under him another 
State Constitution was adopted, and he was elected gov- 
ernor. ' Then followed the appeal to arms — a fight — and 
peace again. The evils complained of were subsequently 
removed. 

The Mormons were the next rebels. They went to 
Utah in 1848, and the following year formed their own 
constitution, naming their territory Des&ret. They sent 
their documents to Washington. The independent com- 
monwealth was not allowed to have her own way. So 
she rebelled, and in 1856 a mob drove the U. S. Judge, 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 137 

Drummond, from his bencli, and tried to take thtj reins 
of authority. 

How insignificant all these, nearly a dozen rebellions 
outbreaks, excepting the very significant and prophetic 
resistance to the Grovernment of Georgia and South Caro- 
lina, foreshadowing the storm which has since shaken 
the pillars of the Republic, appear, compared to the 
civil war. 

"Wlaen it broke upon us. Captain Ericsson T\as not 
thought by any one, nor thought himself, to be destined to 
act a principal part in breasting the angry and terrible 
conflict of moral and political elements. His ex;jjerience 
among the officials at Washington had decided him to 
make no more offers of his engineering services, whether 
in time of peace or war, to the Government. It may 
well kindle a blush of shame upon a patriot's .^heek to 
know that trickery and bribery quite as often gi-ve success 
to those who live on the public treasury, as pure princi- 
ples and transparent honesty. The days have seemed to 
be past, when Christian men can enter the arena of politics 
and win the popular suffrage, if consistent in their loyalty 
to God. 

The upright Ericsson would have nothing to do with 
the arrogant and corrupt officials infesting the depart- 
ments at the capital. He believed thoroughly, while ad- 
vtmcing material interests, in the sentiment of Washing- 
ton, that of private and national character, " religion and 



138 • LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 

moraKty are indispensable supports." And lie was will 
ing to employ Lis fine inventive intellect, apart from po- 
litical cliicanery and patronage. 

The thunder of cannon against the walls of Sumter, 
the insane declaration of war upon the existence of the 
Republic, turned the* attention of patriotic capitalists to 
our defences, especially to our navy. We had never been 
a mighty nation on the sea, because excepting the Revo- 
lution, and the war of 1812, we had used the sea almost 
entirely for our rapidly-extending commerce. "Would you 
like to have a glimpse of our national " life on the oceau 
wave " ? 

On 1607, thirteen years before the May Flower rocked 
in Massachusetts Bay, Francis Newport landed on the 
coast of Virginia with colonists, whose object of ad- 
venture was wealth and luxury. Six years later, Captain 
Samuel Argal, under the pretext of a fishing expedition, 
left the shores of Virginia with eleven vessels for the coast 
of Nova Scotia. The French port of St. Sauveur was 
unarmed, and, attacked by Argal, fell with but little re- 
sistance into his hands. The fleet carried fourteen guns. 
This was the first colonial conflict with rival settlers, and 
in a time of perfect peace ; the earliest aggression of the 
South upon the North, for self-aggrandizement at the ex- 
pense of justice and humanity. This was followed by a 
similar outrage upon the Dutch settlement of New York. 
Soon after the fleet was scattered and one of the vessels 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 139 

lost. The prisoners taken from the shipwi'ecked crew 

^ just escaped execution as pirates. 

' In 1814, on the banks of the Hudson, near New York, 

' ^y / was built the first decked vessel, styled in the account 
giA-^en of it, a yacht. It sailed through Hell Gate into 
Long Island Sound, and away to Cape Cod, no trivial en- 
terprise before the May Flower touched the sands of that 

? nameless point, whose base was sixty miles back among 
the Indian wigwams of the unexplored wilderness. Mean- 
while the Dutch had reared the walls of a fort at New 
Amsterdam ; doubtless the pioneer fortification of civili- 
zation in the limits of the present United States. Here 
was a centre of trade in small craft with the natives along 
the bays and rivers of their territory. Thirteen years 
after the shallop struck " Forefathers' Eock," according 
to the best record we have of that period, the first ship 

. was built at Boston. From the launching of this small 
vessel navigation in New England went forward with 
characteristic rapidity, especially the fisheries, which be- 
came the unappointed hardy nautical school of American 
seamen. Such was the dawn of existence to the American 
navy. It is not the place to give a sketch of the growth 
of this power. I will add a few striking facts. 

The Reprisal was the first American man-of-war which 
appeared in foreign waters, reaching France in 1776, with 
Franklin on board, and having several prizes in company 
with her. Then followed the heroic deeds of our com- 



140 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

modores, Rodgers, of the Guerriere, Bainbridge, of the 
Independence,' and Perry, of the Java, with other gallant 
commanders, until even boasting Britain feared our 
prowess on the high seas. The last war with England 
displayed still greater valor and victories, if possible. The 
names of Perry, Macdonough, Porter, and other naval 
warriors, shine in the world's history. 

You wiU be willing to turn aside awhile from the 
narrative of the hero of peaceful revolutions and suc- 
cessful warfare in our navy, to read the story of a fearless 
and patriotic youth, who, when dying, left an imperishable 
watchword behind for aU ages. He lived in the days of 
wooden war-ships, and was among the pioneer sailors on 
gunboats, such as the country then afforded. Says an 
American writer : 

" Death, which so often removes from the scenes of 
their glory the young and heroic, has never triumphed 
over a victim more beloved and lamented by the nation 
he served than James Lawrence. His career was marked 
by a series of brilliant actions which had attracted the 
highest confidence and hope in his compatriots, and his 
untimely loss was mourned as a national calamity. 

" Captain James Lawrence was born on the 1st of 
October, 1781, at Burlington, in New Jersey, and ^as 
the youngest son of John Lawrence, Esq., counsellor-at- 
law of that place. Soon after his birth he had the mis- 
fortune to lose his mother, and the care of his early years 



LITE OF JOHN EETCSSON. 141 

devolved on lus two sisters, who seem to have cultivated 
the moral qualities of his heart with singular success. 

" At the age of twelve he evinced a strong partiality 
for the sea ; but his father disapproving of that plan of 
life, and wishing him to piirsue the profession of law, 
young Lawrence acquiesced, and passed with reputation 
through the grammar school at Burlington, when, finding 
that the pecuniary situation of his ftithei* would not fur- 
nish him with the means of completing his education at 
any college or university, he commenced the study of law 
with his brother, the late John Lawrence, Esq., at Wood- 
bury. He was now only thirteen years of age, a period 
of life when the grave pursuits of jurisprudence can 
scarcely be presumed to have many attractions for a 
young and ardent fancy, already inflamed with the love 
of wandering. He continued, however, a reluctant stu- 
dent for about two years, when the death of his father 
leaving him more at liberty to pursue his favorite inclina- 
tion, he prevailed on his brother to place him under the 
care of Mr. G-riscomb, at Burlington, for the purpose of 
studying navigation. He here remained for three months, 
at the expiration of which time, on application to the 
Navy Department, he received a warrant as midshipman, 
on the 4th of September, 1798. 

" His first voyage was in the ship Ganges, Captain 
Tingey, on a cruise to the "West Indies. He afterwards 
sailed in different vessels for upwards of two years, and 



142 LIFE OF JOHN EKICSBON. 

was then made au acting lieutenant on board the frigato 
Adams, Captain Robinson, where he continued till the 
reduction of the navy ; in consequence of which his ap- 
pointment was not confirmed, and he remained in the rank 
of midshipmen. 

" On the commencement of the war with Tripoli, in 
1801, he was promoted to a lieutenancy, and sailed to the 
Mediterranean as first lieutenant of the schooner Enter- 
prise in 1803. From this vessel he was transferred to 
the frigate John Adams, as first lieutenant ; and, after re- 
maining in the Mediterranean about three years, he re- 
turned with Commodore Preble to the United States. 

" Soon after, he Avas again sent to the Mediterranean 
as commander of gunboat No. 6. These vessels were 
originally destined to serve merely along the Amei^can 
coast, and, however qualified for harbor or river defence, 
were deemed exceedingly insecure in crossing the Atlantic. 
Being very small, with a disproportionably large gun, and 
necessarily laden very deeply, they labored under every 
disadvantage in encountering heavy gales. So decided 
were the opinions of the naval officers against them, that 
no one would, perhaps, have been willing to risk his life 
in them on such a voyage, for any motive of private ad- 
vantage, or from any consideration, except the perform- 
ance of his duty. ' Lawrence has told me,' writes one 
of his brother officers, ' that when he went on board the 
gunboat, he had not the faintest idea that he would ever 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 143 

arrive out to the Mediterranean in her, or, indeed, arrive 
anywhere else. He has also told me, that on the coast 
of Europe he met an English frigate, the captain of which 
would not at first believe that he had crossed the Atlantic 
in such a vessel.' He did not, however, go with less 
alacrity, and he unexpectedly arrived safely in the 
Mediterranean, where he remained for about sixteen 
months. 

" On the 10th of February, 1813, he captured the 
English. brig Resolution, of ten guns, laden with provis- 
ions and about twenty-five thousand doUars in specie, but 
as she was a dull sailer, and he could not spare hands to 
man her, he took out the money and the crew, and burnt 
her. He then ran down the coast for Maranham, and, 
after cruising near that place and Sm'inam, tiU the 23 d of 
February, he stood for Demarara. On the next morning 
he discovered a brig to leeward, and chased her so near 
the shore that he was obliged to haiil off for want of a 
pilot. During the chase, however, he had discovered a 
vessel at anchor outside of the bar of Demarara River, 
with English colors flying, and now began beatiag round 
the Corobano bank to get at her ; when, between thi-ee 
and four o'clock in the afternoon, another sail was seen on 
his weather quarter, edging down for him. As she ap- 
proached, she hoisted English colors, and proved to be 
the British brig Feacoch, Captain Peake. The Hornet 
was immediately cleared for action, and kept close to the 



IM LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

wind, in order to get the weather gauge of the approach 
ing vessel. At ten minutes past five, finding that he 
could weather the enemy, Captain Lawrence hoisted 
American colors, tacked, and in about a quarter of an 
hour, jjassed the British ship within half pistol-shot, and 
exchanged broadsides. The enemy was now in the act 
of wearing, when Captain Lawrence bore up, received 
his starboard broadside, and ran him close on board on 
the starboard quarter ; from which position he kept up so 
close and bloody a fire, that in less than fifteen minutes 
from the copamencement of the action, the British struck 
their colors, and hoisted a signal of distress. Lieutenant 
Shubrick instantly went on board, and found that she was 
cut to pieces, her captain killed, many of the crew killed 
and wounded, her mainmast gone by the board, six feet 
water in the hold, and sinking very fast. The two ships 
were immediately brought to anchor, and the Hornet's 
boats despatched to bring ofi" the wounded ; but, although 
her guns were thrown overboard, the shot holes which 
could be got at plugged, and every exertion made by 
pumping and bailing to keep her afloat, so completely had 
she been shattered that she sunk before the prisoners 
could be removed, carrying down thirteen of her crew, as 
well as three men belonging to the Hornet. Lieutenant 
Connor and the other officers and men employed in re- 
moving the prisoners, narrowly escaped by jumping into 
a boat, as the Peacock went down : and four seamen of 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 145 

the Hornet ran xip into tlie foretop at the same time, and 
were taken off by the boats. 

'• The Peacock was deemed one of the finest ships of 
her class in the British navy. In size she was about 
equal to the Hornet ; but, in guns and men, the Hornet 
was somewhat, though very little, her superior ; and by 
no means so mueli so as to give her any decided advan- 
tage. The loss on board the Peacock could not be pre- 
cisely ascertained. Captain Peake was twice wounded, 
the second time mortally. Four men were found dead 
on board. The master and thirty-two others were wound- 
ed, three of whom afterward died. The Hornet had only 
one man killed, and two slightly wounded. Her rigging 
and sails were much cut, but' her hull received very little 
injury. During the engagement, the vessel which the 
Hornet had been endeavoriug to reach before the Peacock 
bore down, lay at anchor within six miles, and as she was 
a brig — the Espiegle — carrying fifteen thirty-two pound 
carronades and two long nines, it was supposed that she 
would attack the Hornet, after the latter had been dis- 
abled by the combat. The Hornet was immediately pre- 
pared to receive her, and, by nine o'clock at night, her 
boats were stowed, a new set of sails bent, and every 
thing ready for action. She, however, declined coming 
out. The next morning Captain Lawrence found that he 
had two hundred and seventy souls on board the Hornet^ 
and, as his crew had been for some time on short aUow- 
7 



14:6 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSO]Sr. 

ance, resolved to steer fci- the United States. The officers 
of the Peacock received from those of the Hornet the most 
humane and honorable treatment ; so penetrated with 
gratitude were they for the kindness which they had ex- 
perienced, that they conld not restrain the expression of 
their feelings till they reached England, but, on their ar- 
rival in the United States, published a letter of thanks to 
Captain Lawrence and his officers, in which they declared 
that such was the liberality displayed to them, that ' they 
ceased to consider themselves prisoners.' Nor was the 
rough generosity of the Hornet's crew less honorable. As 
the sailors of the Peacock had lost eveiy thing except what 
they had on their backs, when she went down, the crew 
of the Hornet united to relieve them ; and made every 
English sailor a present of two' shirts and a blue jacket 
and pair of trowsers ; a true-hearted liberality, which 
raises them in our estimation higher than even their 
victory. 

" Captain Lawrence returned to New York in safety, 
and, Besides the applause which his country lavished upon 
him for his good conduct, had the satisfaction of learning, 
as we have already observed, that he had been promoted 
during his absence, and his rank settled to his perfect 
satisfaction. Soon after his return he was ordered to the 
command of the frigate Constitution, with the temporary 
superintendence of the navy yard at New York. But the 
next day, to his gi-eat regret, he received instructions to 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 147 

repaii" to Boston, and take command of the Chesapeake 
frigate, then nearly ready for sea. This appointment was 
peculiarly unpleasant, because the Chesajjsake was not 
only considered as one of the very worst ships in the 
navy, but, in consequence of her disgrace in the rencontre 
with the Leopard, labored under that dispiriting stigma 
among sailors, of being an ' unlucky ship.' These circum- 
stances, combined with the state of his family, made Cap- 
tain Lawrence unwilling to go to sea immediately, and he, 
therefore, requested to retain his situation in the Hornet. 
Disappointed in this wish, he then took command of the 
Chesapeake at Boston, where he had been but a short 
time, when the British frigate Shannon, Captain Broke, 
appeared before the harbor, for the avowed purpose of 
seeking a combat with the Chesapeake. Stung with the 
repeated disasters of the British frigates, this officer re- 
solved to make an effort to retrieve them ; and, when he 
deemed his ship perfectly prepared for that purpose, sent 
a formal challenge to Captain Lawrence. 

"'As the Chesapeake' — ^his letter began — 'appears 
now ready for sea, I request you will do me the favor to 
meet the Shannon with her, ship to ship, to try the for- 
tune of our respective flags. To an oflicer of your char- 
acter, it requires some apology for proceeding to ftirthev 
particulars. Be assured, sir, that it is not from any doubt 
I entertain of your wishing to close with my proposal, but 
merely to provide an answer to any objection that might 



148 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 

be made — and very reasonably — upon tlie chance of our 
receiving unfair support.' After observing that Commo- 
dore Rodgers had not accepted several verbal challenges 
Vi^hich he had given, Captain Broke then proceeds to state 
very minutely the force of the Shannon, and offers to send 
all British ships out of reach, so that they might have a 
fair combat, at any place within a certain range along the 
coast of New England, which he specified ; if more agree- 
able, he offers topsail together, and to warn the Chesa- 
peake, by means of private signals of the approach of 
British ships-of-war, till they reach some solitary spot— 
or to sail with a flag of truce to any place out of the reach 
of British aid, so that the flag should be hauled down 
when it was deemed fair to begin hostilities. ' I entreat 
you, sir,' he concludes, ' not to imagine that I am urged 
by mere personal vanity to the wish of meeting the Chesa- 
pealce, or that I depend only upon your personal ambition 
for your acceding to this invitation. "We have both nobler 
motives. You will feel it as a compliment, if I say that 
the result of our meeting may be the most grateful service 
I can render to my country ; and I doubt not that you, 
equally confident of success, will feel convinced that it is 
only by repeated triumphs in even combats, that your lit- 
tle navy can now hope to console your country for the loss 
of that trade it can no longer protect.' 

" The style of this letter, with the exception of the 
puerile bravado about Commodore Rodgers, is frank and 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 149 

manly ; and, if tlie force of the Shannon were correctly 
stated, would be such a challenge as might well be sent 
from a brave seaman to a gallant adversary. We, how- 
ever, are but two well satisfied, that Captain Broke studi- 
ously underrated the number of his guns and crew ', or 
that, after his challenge, he must have received additions 
to both. That the Shannon had more guns than the 
number stated by her commander, we learn from the 
testimony of the surviving officers of the Chesapeake ; who 
also assert, that she had three hundred a,nd seventy-six 
men ; that she had an officer and sixteen men from the 
Belle Poule ; and that the hats of some of her seamen were 
marked Tenedos. Such as it was, however, this letter, 
most unfortunately, never reached Captain Lawrence. 
If he had received it — if he had been thus warned to pre-, 
pare his ship — if he had had an opportunity of selecting 
his officers, and disciplining his crew — ^if, in short, he had 
been able to place the GhesajpeaTce on any thing like equal 
terms with the Shannon, the combat might have been 
more bloody — there might have been such an engagement 
as has not yet been seen between single ships on the 
ocean ! though we cannot suffer ourselves to doubt the re- 
sult of it. But he knew nothing of this challenge — he 
saw only the Shannon riding before hitn in defiance ; he 
remembered the spirit with which he himself had over- 
awed a superior, and he could not brook for a moment, 
that an enemy, which seemed to be his equal, should is^ 



150 LIFE or JOHN EEICSSOiSr. 

suit liis flag. Altliough, therefore, the Chesapeahe was 
comparatively an inferior ship — although his first lieu- 
tenant was sick on shore — although three of his lieutenants 
had recently left her ; and, of the four who remained, two 
Mere only midshipmen, actiag as lieutenants — although 
part of his crew were new hands, and all of them had lost 
some of their discipline by staying in port — ^yet, as he 
would have gone to sea in that situation had no enemy 
appeared, he felt himself bound not to delay sailing on 
that account, and throwing himself, therefore, on his 
courage and his fortune, he determined at once to attack 
the enemy. It was on the morning of the 1st of June, 
1813, that the Chesapeake sailed out of the harbor of 
Boston, to meet the Shannon. As soon as she got under 
weigh. Captain Lawrence called the crew together, and, 
having hoisted the white flag, with the motto of ' free 
trade and sailors' rights,' made a short address. His 
speech, however, was received with no enthusiasm — on 
the contrary, signs of dissatisfaction were evident ; par- 
ticularly from a boatswain's mate, a Portuguese, who 
seemed to be at the head of the malcontents ; and com- 
plaints were muttered, that they had not yet received their 
prize-money. Such expressions, at the eve of an action, 
were but ill bodings of the result of it ; but Captain Law- 
rence, ignorant as he was of the character of his sailors, 
and unwilling at such a moment to damp their spirits by 
harshness, preserved his accustomed calmness, and had 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSOJST. 151 

prize-cliecks, at once, given by tlie purser to those who 
had not received them. While this scene was passing, 
tlie Shannon observing the GJiesapeahe coming out, bore 
away. The Chesapeake followed her till four o'clock in 
the afternoon, when she hauled up and fired a gun, on 
which the Shannon hove to. They manoeuvred for some 
time, tni at about a quarter before sis they approached 
within pistol-shot, and exchanged broadsides. 

" These broadsides were both bloody ; but the fire of 
the Shannon was most fortunate in the destruction of offi- 
cers. The fom-th lieutenant, Mr. Ballard, was mortally 
wounded — the saihng master was killed, and Captain 
Lawrence received a musket ball in his leg, which caused 
great pain, and profuse bleeding, but he leaned on the 
companion-way, and continued to order and to animate 
his crew. A second and a third broadside was exchanged, 
with evident advantage on the part of the Chesapeake ; but, 
unfortimately, among those now wounded on board of her, 
was the first lieutenant, ]Mr. Ludlow, who was carried 
below — three men were successively shot from the helm 
in about twelve minutes from the commencement of the 
action ; and, as the hands were shifting, a shot disabled 
her foresail, so that she would no longer answer her helm, 
and her anchor caught in one of the afterports of the Shan^ 
non, which enabled the latter to rake her upperdeck. As 
soon as Lawrence .perceived that she was falling to lee- 
"Vrard, and that by the Shannon's filling she would fall on 



152 LIFE OF JOHJSr EEICSSON". 

board, he called his boarders, and was giving orders aboiit 
the foresail, when he received a musket ball in his body. 
The bugleman, who should have called the boarders, did 
not do his duty ; and, at this moment. Commodore Broke, 
whose ship had suffered so much that he was preparing to 
r^el boarding, perceiving, from this accident, how the 
deck of the Chesa/peake was swept, jumped on board with 
about twenty men. They would have been instantly re- 
pelled ; but the captain, the first Keutenant, the sailing 
master, the boatswain, lieutenant of marines, the only 
acting lieutenant on the spardeck, were all killed or dis- 
abled. At the call of the boarders. Lieutenant Cox ran 
on deck, but just in time to receive his falling commander, 
and bear him below. Lieutenant Budd — the second lieu- 
tenant — ^led up the boarders, but only fifteen or twenty 
would foUow him, and with these he defended the ship 
tm he was wounded and disabled. Lieutenant Ludlow, 
wounded as he was, hurried upon deck, where he soon 
received a mortal cut from a sabre. The marines who 
were engaged fought with desperate courage ; but they 
were few ia numbers ; too many of them having followed 
the Portuguese boatswain's mate, who exclaimed, it is 
said, as he skulked below, ' so much for not paying men 
their prize-money.' Meanwhile the Shannon threw on 
board sixty additional men, who soon succeeded in over- 
powering the seamen of the Chesapeahe, who had" now no 
officers to lead or rally them, aud took possession of the 



LIFE OF JOHJSr EEICSSOISr. 153 

ship ; which was not, however, surrendered by any signal 
of submission ; but became the enemy's, only because 
they were able to overwhelm all who were in a condition 
to resist. 

"As Captain Lawrence was carried below, he per- 
ceived the melancholy condition of the Chesapeake, but 
cried out, ' Don't surrender the ship.' He was taken 
down in the wardroom, and as he lay in excruciating 
pain, perceiving that the noise above had ceased, he 
ordered the surgeon to go on deck, and tell the officers to 
fight on to the last, and never strike the colors. ' They 
shall wave,' said he, ' while I live.' But it was too late 
to resist or to struggle longer ; the enemy had already 
possession of the ship. As Captain La^^Tence's wounds 
would not allow of his removal, he continued in the ward- 
room, surrounded by his wounded officers, and, after lin- 
gering in great pain for four days, during which his suf- 
ferings were too acute to permit him to speak, or, perhaps, 
to think of the sad events he had just witnessed, or do 
more than ask for what his situation required, he died on 
the 5th of June. His body was wrapped in the colors of 
the Chesapeake, and laid on the quarterdeck, until they 
arrived at Halifax, where he was buried with the highest 
military and naval honors ; the British officers forgetting 
for a moment, in their admiration of his character, that 
he had been but lately their enemy. His paU was sup- 
ported by the oldest captains in the navy then at Halifax, 
7* 



154: LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

and no demonstration of respectful attention was omitted 
to honor tlie remains of a brave, but unfortunate stranger. 
Thus prematurely perished, at the age of thirty-two, this 
gallant and generous seaman." 

All the vessels up to this period were propelled by 
canvas. For almost half a century our navy had little 
to do on the watery plain of national warfare. The South, 
anticipating a struggle for supremacy, had for the last few 
years preceding the civU conflict, artfully managed, through 
her control of the Government, to scatter the vessels of 
our navy, which at best was poorly prepared for war, to 
diiferent parts of the world. 

After the political storm which has burst upon us be- 
gan to lower upon the Southern sky during the winter of 
1860-61, Congress appointed a Committee to inquire into 
the condition of our naval force. 

And do you know the result ? if not, can you guess ? 

Of the ninety vessels, the steamer BrooJclyn, carrying 
twenty-five guns, and the Belief with two guns, a store- 
ship, only were left to defend the entire Atlantic coast of 
many thousands of miles ! 

" Where were aU the rest?" you ask. 

Twenty-eight were lying in port dismantled and unfit 
for service. The other fifty were in the East Indies, in 
the Pacific Ocean, and in various harbors at home and 
abroad, but unavailable for armed protection of the Re- 
public, in danger from her own petted children. 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 165 

During that same winter fifty-six officers of the nayy 
resigned because they were tired of the old flag ; eleven 
of these were educated in the United States Naval Acad- 
emy. Grateful men ! you exclaim. There is no grati- 
tude in treason. This demon expels the nobler sentiments 
of the soul. 

The nation waked up from a pleasant dream to the 
music of cannon ; and lo ! with no army, but few arms, 
and a navy reduced to this weU-nigh worthless weakness 
by treachery, we were in the midst of hostile " brethren" 
who were prepared to enter the field with at least forty 
thousand men armed for battle, and their, hands firmly 
grasping aU the sources of our strength. And yet Con- 
gress adjourned without making a new law for the work 
of preparation to meet our enemies ; not a ship was re- 
called from the distant stations, where their presence was 
comparatively unnecessary, but rather a show of naval 
strength. 

About three weeks after the new President was in- 
augurated, for the first time, with soldiers and cannon to 
guard him and " keep the peace," the sloop-of-war Cum- 
herland, flag-ship of Commodore Pendergrast, sailed into 
Chesapeake Bay. The now loyal Secretary of the Navy 
laid his official hand on this good ship, and kept her at 
Norfolk for the hour of peril which seemed to be near. 
There we had a noble navy yard filled with arms and 
ammunition. 



166 LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 

The vessels were not in condition to be taken away 
into service ; but worse than this, no effort was made, be- 
cause it was feared the traitors might be offended ; in 
other words, it was the well-intended policy to conciliate 
and not irritate, the determined foes of the Eepublic. 
The Merrimac was ordered to be put in order for sea and 
tow out other ships, and then proceed to Philadelphia. 

Commodore McAuley, a cunning traitor, was the com- 
mandant of the' yard, and watching every movement there. 
April 17th, 1861, the Merrimac was ready to start, but the 
commodore refused to have the fires kindled. The next 
morning, however, the smoke rose from the dark pipes, 
and the steam began to hiss. Still she did not move, and 
before night the furnaces were out. This startled the 
Government, and CommodorS Paulding was sent with a 
small force to look after the navy yard and its officers. 
The troops were mainly Massachusetts "boys" who had 
arrived just before at Fortress Monroe. What a sad ex- 
pedition ! The commandant was working hard for trea- 
son. The channel had been filled with obstructions to 
keep the vessels at Norfolk, and many of them were scut- 
tled ; that is, opened at the bottom to let in the water. 
So Commodore Paulding, finding that the powder maga- 
zine was seized and resistance was hazardous, made a 
finish of the destruction, as far as possible, to weaken 
the rebels, and towing the Cumberland away through the 
very flames of burning masts and ships, left the ruins to 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 157 

the enemy. We lost then and there, two thousand can- 
non, and a great quantity of powder, to be used against us. 
You will learn hereafter what that memorable scene, 
with its Cumberland and Merrimac, had to do with Ericsson 
and his marvellous invejitions. While the property of the 
United States was on fire at Norfolk, the Swede was 
quietly bending over his diagrams and models in his pleas- 
ant residence fronting St. John's Park, New York. 



CHAPTER XrV'. 



The "Merchant Prince" — His Interview Tvith Captain Ericsson — The Invento* 
and the Naval Department— The Mysterious Box— On the way to "Washing- 
ton—Its fortunes there. 



\T is not strange that patriotic men of wealth began 
to think and act in earnest in behalf of our navy. 
Private citizens poured out their money like water, 
for the nation's deliverance from the dark plot 
against its Hfe. 
Donald McKay, the American ship-buUder, who was 
in London dur^g the memorable winter referred to al- 
ready, wrote home, urging the country to strengthen the 
navy by building new vessels, and plating with iron the 
old wooden ones. ^ 

-" As spring time approached another warniog voice 
was lifted in the nation's ear. Civil engineer, Mr. 
Charles EUet, called the attention of the Government to 
our " Military Incapacity."-. Had you been in the Capitol, 
which has recently with lavish expense been put in ele- 



jjgisiggssmssssssmm 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 159 

gant order, in February, you v/ould have seen in each 
Congressman's hand a pamphlet bearing the title given 
above. He seems to have had a prophet's foresight, as 
extracts from his earnest appeal will show. He said : 
" It is not generally known that the rebels have now five 
stenm rams nearly ready for use. Of these, the one at 
Norfolk is doubtless the most formidable, being the 
United States steam frigate Merrimac, which has been so 
strengthened, that in the opinion of the rebels it may be 
used as a ram. But we have not a single vessel at sea, 
nor, as far as I know, in course of construction, able to 
cope at all with a well-built ram. If the Merrimac is 
permitted to escape from Elizabeth River, she will be al- 
most certain to commit depredations on our armed and 
imarmed vessels in Hampton Roads, and may even be 
expected to pass out under the guns of Fortress Monroe, 
and prey upon our commerce in Chesapeake Bay. In- 
deed, if the alterations have been skilfully made, and she 
succeeds in getting to sea, she wiU not only be a terrible 
scourge to our commerce, but may also prove to be a 
most dangerous visitor to our blockading squadrons off 
the harbors of the Southern coasts. I think the danger 
from these tremendous engines is very imminent hut not at 
all appreciated. Experience derived from accidental col- 
lisions, shows that a vessel struck in the waist by a steam 
ram, at sea, wiU go down almost instantaneously, and in- 
volve, as it often has happened, aU on board." The ram. 



160 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

you know, is_an iron front or prow made on purpose 
to strike an enemy's ships. ?\ 

,"' First in the field of activity here was C. S. Bushnell, 
Esq., of New Haven, Connecticixt.'-' He had been some- 
thing of " a Salt ; " in other words, had in his youth been 
a sailor. He had considerable knowledge of ships, and 
his quick intellect saw that the Eepublic must add to her 
scientific achievements greater progress in naval warfare. 
God's pi'ovidence here is seen most clearly. He had 
given wealth to the lover of ocean-leviathans for man's 
use, and now sent an awakening inspiration to make that 
experience, passion for nautical enterprise, and money, 
available in the coming crisis of the nation's existence. 
Mr. Bushnell thought and dreamed over ships, like ancient 
chieftains in a coat of mail — noble vessels clad in iron — 
sea kings walking the waters in metallic, impenetrable 
robes. 

He talked with men of science, and studied jplans which 
they proposed, for such unknown yet possible warriors. 
The result of the consultations, suggestions, and diagrams, 
was a projected gunboat, to be called the " Galena." It 
is decided to build the " craft." The ablest naval archi- 
tects scan doubtfully the pictured iron-Neptune. 

" The weight of iron will sink her," declares one. 

" She may float, but can make no headway in a heavy 
sea," thinks another. 

Away to New York goes the perplexed but not dis- 



LITE OP JOHN ERICSSON. 161 

couraged merchant. The fame of Captain Ericsson was 
familiar to him. As a final resort, a decisive counsellor, 
he seeks his plain, substantial, pleasant residence in Beach 
street.,/ The enthusiastic, yet dignified Swede, runs his 
finger over the diagrams, and listens to the equally en- 
thusiastic merchant. "Your calculations are correct," 
he remarks, "but the vessel will not be invulnerable. 
Her sides will not be shot-proof." Captain Ericsson then 
inquires if Mr. Bushnell desu'ed to undertake the construc- 
tion of a floating battery impenetrable by the heaviest 
ball, able to resist any attack by land fortress, or on the 
sea. This was precisely what the " wide-awake Yankee" 
wanted ; and it was the darling cherished ideal of the no- 
ble Swede/ He rises, takes from a shelf a plain casket, 
not of jewels or gold, but of miniature machinery. / No 
diamond-digger, pearl-diver, or gold-hunter, had ever toil- 
ed so hard for his treasure, as had that strong man for the 
contents of that oblong box, a foot and a half by fourteen 
inches. He lifts the machine from its cage, saying: 
" This is the result of the labors of twenty years of my 
life." 

The inventor explains to his intensely interested lis- 
tener the marvel of his busy braio. When this creation 
of a splendid' mind lay like a perfect chronometer before 
his eye, and was already proudly, in his vision, riding the ' 
waves, he was fired with the greatness of the revolution 
on that field of conflict, but partially discerned, reposing 



162 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOIS". 

like an infant ^iant in the cradle, within the wooden 
casket. Undeveloped power was clearly there. 

" Go with me to Washington and help me to get this 
invention before the Government," earnestly urges the 
capitalist. 

" Pardon me, that I cannot do. I must decline any | ^^ 
farther negotiations there," replies Captain Ericsson. ! "^ 

He further told Mr. Bushnell, that a few years before 
he sent a duplicate of the model to Louis Napoleon, but 
nothing' had been attempted. So near did we come by>-. i 
our stupidity losing for ourselves, and giving to the most_ 
ambitious monarch of Europe, the grandest offspring of 
modern genius. But again a kind Providence watched 
over a Republic, and a home for the Ericssons of the old -» 
world. The inventor offered to commit to Mr. Bushnell's 
disposal the plans and model. In a few hours he bade . 
the captain adieu, and with the box started for the depot 
of the railway leading to Washington. The man of 
wealth was never happier counting bis possessions, than 
now, with the casket whose contents had been wortliless 
to kings. Nobody in the cars cares, further than a pass- 
ing curiosity, perhaps, as the glance rests on the singular 
j)iece of baggage by the traveller's side. It is altogether 
probable some supposed it a wandering jeweller's stock, in 
ilrade, little dreaming that our nation's honor was carried 
in the unpretending box. 

" Washington ! " called out the conductor. Mr. Bush- 



!■ 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 163 

aoll, box in hand, stepped into Pennsylvania Avenue 
and sought quarters at a hotel. Fortunately for him he 
met soon after two men of wealth and noble enterprise 
from Troy, New York. To these gentlemen, Messrs. J. 
A. Griswold and J. F. "Winslow, he showed liis treasure 
and told his plans. They decided to embark with him in 
the design of testing the value of the contents of the in- 

■ rentor's casket. 

We wiU glance at Congress again. August 3d, 18G1, 
it had directed the Secretary of the ISTavy to appoint " a 
Board of three skilful naval officers " to investigate the 
plans for iron clad ships, batteries, &c., and if they re- 
ported favorably, the Secretary might expend $1,500,000 
in building some of these metallic sea warriors. Commo- 
dores J. Smith and H. Paulding, and Captain C. H, 
Davis, were selected for that Board. This was the con- 
dition of naval affairs when Captain Ericsson's friends 
were in "Washington. 

> The first thing was to call on President Lincoln. The 
mysterious box was opened, the models taken out, the dia- 
grams displayed. Our practical, sensible President, look- 
ed over the miniature monitors carefully, and said : " Gen- 
tlemen, the invention strikes me very favorably, but I do 
not pretend to have raucli knowledge of such matters. I 
will, however, accompany you to the Naval Board, and 
lay the matter before it." Mr. Lincoln led his visitors to 
the marble pile in which the Board held its consultations. 



164 LIFE OF J0H2T ERICSSON. 

The exhibition of mechanism and figures was again made j 
but, like the British Admiralty, the members were in- 
credulous. It was a new thing for the waters, indeed, and 
without any likeness to the floating creations of human 
skUl, since time began. 

A prominant naval officer said : " It resembles nothing 
in the heavens above, or the earth beneath, or the waters 
under the earth. You can take it home and worship it 
without violating any commandment." 

What shall be done now ? The money-kings hold a 
council, and conclude, if possible, to bring Captain Ericsson 
before the arbiters of the monitor's fate. With his clear 
explanations and glowing enthusiasm, they were sure of 
producing conviction on the minds of the Board. The 
night train of cars bore Mr". BushneU to New York. It 
was no small endeavor demanded to persuade the inventor, 
disgusted with the Capital, to go there again ; but the 
evening came, and in the gaslight of the great city the 
two noblemen moved toward the depot for Washington. 
The arrival there was followed by another interview with 
the Naval Board, and what the wise officials did we shall 



SSiB 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Great Decision — Eatified by Congress — The Contract — Its strictness alarms 
the Money Kings— The Monitor is begun— The Builders and Its Building— 
The Iron-works— The Strange Craft completed. 

jN a few days tte Committee reported to the Secre- 
tary of the Navy their decision, which was ap- 
proved by Congress. 

I hear a voice exclaim : " I know what it was ; 
to let Captain Ericsson build his Ifonitor." 
Yes, but do you know how near he came losing the 
''job"? 

The recommendation was to build three iron-clads, 
the Galena, the Ironsides, and the Monitor. But see how 
very cautiously and curiously the permission given to the 
Swede to build, was expressed : 

"J. Ericsson, New York. This plan of a floating 
battery is novel, but seems to be based upon a principle 
which will render the battery shot and shell-proof. It is 
to be apprehended that her properties for sea are not such 
as a sea-going vessel should possess. But she may bo 



166 LIFE OF JOHN EEilCSSOST. 

mo-ved i'rom one place to another onthe coast in smooth 
water. We recommend that an experiment be made with 
one battery of this description on the terms proposed, with 
a guarantee and forfeiture in case of failure in any of the 
properties and points of the vessel as proposed. Price 
$175,000." The contract required that the battery be 
finished within a hundred days from the date of sign- 
ing it. 

We never knew the importance which God in his prov- 
idence attaches to any act, however trivial it may seem 
to us. In this view there are no trifles in human life. 
The Congressional Committee and Congress itself had no 
idea at all of the vast, the momentous result of that cautious 
'conclusion. It is felt around the globe. At the time 
there was a new danger of failure; the strictness of the 
contract frightened the captain's friends, who held the 
purse. 

They consulted together. " What if the fears of the 
committee prove well founded ? What will become of the 
fortune invested ?" was the anxious inquiry. 

But patriotism pj-evailed, and the confidence of the 
■wealthy friends of the inventor in his clear head which 
had thought out the monitor, was imshaken. The eon- 
tract to build the vessel was given to Mr. J. F. Rowland, 
of the Continental Works, New York, and the work at 
once commenced. Step into the grand manufactory of 
these iron corsaii's of the sea. 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 167 

"Wliat are those heaps back of the forges?" One 
who was there will answer : 

" They are 'scrap iron' — ^iron of every form and use, 
which, having performed its functions in one shape, has 
beeii brought here from a thousand quarters to undergo a 
new transmutation. In the economy of manufactures, as 
in that of nature, nothing is absolutely lost. In one heap 
we see piled up fragments of steam engines, reaping ma- 
chines, and the like ; close by is a pile of the worn-out 
fragments of smaller wares. "We took the trouble to note 
some of the articles in this pile of old iron. There were 
locks and padlocks, rusty keys, kitchen pokers, knife- 
blades, screws, steelyard beams, skate irons, curling-tongs, 
halves of shears, sofa springs, cork-screws, shovel-blades, 
tong-haiidles, pot-hooks, spoons, ladles, bridle-bits, and 
above all horse-shoes. Not a bit or fragment of iron is 
lost. Every ounce has its value, transmutable, if not into 
gold, into copper and silver when brought to any foundiy. 
The larger pieces have to be cut up to get them into man- 
ageable size." 

" And how can such solid iron be cut?" 

" This is ,done by the ' Cutting Machine' — an instru- 
meit not unlike, in general appearance, the ' straw-cutters' 
used by farmers, in which the knife descends perpendicu- 
larly. The thickest boiler-plates are shred by it as easily 
as a child cuts a sheet of paper with her scissors ; bars as 



168 LIFE OF JOHIS- EKICSSOH", 

large as a man's ancle are cut apart with no more ap- 
parent effort than ia required to slice a radish." 

" I Tfotild like to know what is done with the metallic 
hmdling tuood, after the scissors have made it fine," a 
reader adds. 

"■These scraps are piled up into 'fagots' about two 
feet square, and thrust into the furnaces of which we see 
a row, looking not unlike bakers' ovens, and in fact 
scarcely larger. The draft of these is supplied by a fan, 
which revolves eighteen hundred times in a minute, creat- 
ing the most intense heat ; tongues of white flame shoot 
out from every crack and crevice. In about an hour the 
loose fagot is brought to a welding heat. One workman 
raises the furnace-door,, while another grasps the ductile 
fagot with a long pair of tongs, and by means of a chain 
suspended from a movable pulley, wheels it around and 
places it on the anvil of the forge. It is of an intense 
cherry-red, so bright that the eye can hardly look upon it, 
and apparently as ductile as was. The end of a long iron 
rod, with a crank-like bend in the handle, is laid on the 
fagot. Down comes the ponderous hammer ; the first 
blow shrinks the glowing mass to half its former dimen- 
sions, and welds it firmly to the handle, by wliich the 
stalwart workman turns it over and over. The blows 
fall thick and fast, and in two minutes the fagot is reduced 
to a solid mass, looking like a rough fragment of joist, 
some four feet long and six inches square. This is called 



LIJ-E OF JOHN EKICSSOA^. 160 

a ' bloom,' and is a homogeneous mass of iron ; the locks, 
bolts, boiler-plates, pokers, screws, and horse-shoes of 
which it was composed having lost their personal identity. 
A long-handled knife is then applied ; one blov/ of the 
hammer upon this severs the rod from the bloom. This 
is gTasped, still red-hot, by another workman with a 
pair of tongs, placed upon a truck, and wheeled away 
to cool. 

" These blooms are to be welded and hammered into 
plates." 

" And what is the nest process in plate-making ? " 
" First, the blooms are put into a furnace till made 
soft by the intense heat. Then the crane swings round ; 
the bar is withdi'awn from the furnace and wheeled under 
the hammer. This comes down with a heavy thud from 
its fuU height, with its fifteen thousand and more pounds' 
weight. These blows are too much for even the stub- 
born blooms ; they seem to glow Avith impotent rage, and 
send out fiery sparks as the huge weight falls upon them 
and subdues them to its will. It is surprising to see the 
facility with which the dozen stout, swarthy Titans man- 
age the huge bar of iron, which is delicately balanced 
upon its suspending chain. They tug at the handles until 
every muscle of their arms and chests stand out like whip- 
cords ; they turn it over and over, presenting now this 
side, now that ; now one edge, and then the other to the 
blows of the hammer. In a few moments the piled-up 



170 LIFE or JOHN EKICSSOK. 

blooms are blooms no more, and have been converted into 
a portion of a plate. This process is repeated, fresh piles 
of blooms being heaped up upon the end of the plate, 
heated and hammered out, until the required length has 
been attained. 

" There is no lipiit to the size of the plates wliich may 
be made by the processes which we have described, except 
that imposed by the facility of handling. As they leave 
the forge the usual size of our Roanoke plates is about 
three feet wide, twelve or fifteen long, and four and a half 
inches thick." 

" Tell us more about the great hammers," a curious 
young reader says. 

" The dexterity with which this heavy hammer is 
managed by the workman on his high platform is some- 
thing wonderful. He can give at will a blow of the full 
force of the ten-feet fall of the seven-and-a-half-tons ham- 
mer, aided by the expansive force of the steam let in 
above the piston, or a stroke as light as the tap of a 
lady's fan. ' We can chip an Qgg by this hammer with- 
out crushing it,' said Mr. Tugnot to us. We did not see 
the experiment tried ; but as we watched the blows, now 
heavy, now light, as the sides or edges of the plate were 
presented, we had no doubt that the statement was liter- 
ally true. We may say, in passing, that a couple of years 
ago one of the proprietors of the ' Franklin Forge,' while 
in Great Britain, visited the leading mechanical estab- 



^ 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 171 

lislimeiits, and found nothing equal to his own. ' I would 
not give shop-room to their machines ! ' he said." 

" But how are the massive iron slabs bent to fit the 
curves and angles of the ship's side ? " 

" Each is taken to a furnace nearly the form of the 
plate, with a movablei cover, and laid in the fiery bed to 
soften them before bending— being much too solid for 
shaping it. The plate, which has been for two hours in 
the furnace, has become thoroughly heated to a cherry 
red, in which state it is apparently almost as ductile as 
lead, and is ready for bending. A sort of three-fingered 
iron hand has been resting under it. A crane mounted 
on a truck moving upon rails is wheeled up, the chain at- 
tached to the hand, the plate withdrawn from the furnace, 
wheeled to the press, and swung between the dies. The 
upper one, which has been raised a yard or so, is let go, 
and comes down with a rush, and the softened plate is 
bent nearly to the form of the dies at once. There are 
also a set of screws along the sides for tightening the dies 
where necessary. The foreman glances along the plate, 
and if any part has not come down the screws at the place 
are tightened by means of a wrench turned by two stal- 
wart men ; the perspiration, forced out by the heat from 
the glowing plate and their own exertions, streams from 
every pore ; but slowly and surely the screws are tight- 
ened, and the plate is brought exactly to the required 
sweep. The whole operation of bending, after the plate 



172 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOl^T. 

has once been put in the press, hardly occnpies five min- 
utes. It is then swung out by the crane, and deposited 
upon a truck to be wheeled away and suiFered to cool. 
Our plate is now finished, and wiU. fit to its required place 
on the ship's side as closely as a coat made by the most 
accomplished master of the sartorial art." 

" And how is the mailed leviathan built when the in- 
vulnerable skin is ready for it ? which reminds one of 
Job's description of a living monster, from whose scales 
the spear harmlessly glanced, and whose defiant move- 
ments made ' the deep boil like a pot.' " 

An observer and interesting writer, from whose 
sketches we have already quoted, will answer the ques- 
tion : 

" AU the preliminaries are the same for an iron ves- 
sel. The model, plans, and working drawings are made 
in precisely the same manner. But they are to be wrought 
out in iron instead of v/ood, which requires a great devi- 
ation in details. In place of large oaken 'knees' and 
' futtocks,' we have slender-looking 'ribs' of iron ; instead 
of thick planks for the ' skin,' we have iron plates of less 
than an inch in thickness. If we conceive an Indian 
canoe enlarged to the size of a man-of-war, we shall have 
an almost perfectly accurate idea of the hull of an h on 
vessel, as we see it in process of construction, bearing in 
mind only that the birch-bark sides and slender ashen 
supports are replaced by iron plates and ribs. These 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 173 

plates and ribs are riveted together in the most elaborate 
manner, and this constitutes the chief apparent work of 
building an iron hull. Plates and ribs have been bent 
each to its exact shape, and the countless holes have been 
punched, every one being to a hair's-breadth in its appri^ 
priate place, before the pieces are brought to the stocks 
where they are to be built up. Upon each vessel are a 
hundred or two of workmen, seeming to cling like bees 
to its sides. Little portable furnaces at short intervals 
are heating the rivets, which boys are carrying around to 
the places where they are wanted. The riveter takes one 
of these, red-hot, and thrusts it through the hole ; another 
workman, on the other side, holds a heavy iron bar against 
the end ; the first workman, or, more likely, two of them 
— for the work must be done while the rivet is hot — ham- 
mers it home. A head is thus formed upon each side, 
and the rivet contracting in cooling binds the plates to- 
gether, making a water-tight and air-tight joint. They 
have to work in almost every conceivable position ; ham- 
mering upward, downv>^ard, and sideways. Sometimes 
we see them flat upon their backs, like miners in narrow 
seams of coal veins, striking upward. So plate by platvT 
the hull is built up, from keel to deck. As we look upon 
her, the first impression is one of extreme fragility. If 
we cut an egg-shell lengthwise through the centre, one 
half of it would present an appearance not unlike, in 
shape and the comparative thickness of sti'ucture, our 



174 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

iron huE, whicli is to float the defensive armor and ag- 
[j;;ressive turret of our new Monitor. In fact if it were to 
to be exposed to a cannon ball, it would be pierced aa 
easily as an egg-shell would be by a pistol-bullet. But it 
is to be exposed to no such hazard. It is to be protected 
by a shield which, in a general way, we may consider 
impregnable." 

We will see how this coat of mail is put on. " About 
five feet from the top of our hull an iron shelf, strongly 
braced, projects about four feet from the side. The 
width of this shelf is filled up first to tlic thickness of 
more than three feet with blocks of solid oak, all around 
the vessel. Outside of this solid mass of wood, braced 
wilh iron, are bolted the armor plates. It is yet a moot 
question whether a given thickness of iron possesses more 
resisting power if composed of one solid plate or of a 
series of thinner plates. The Boanoke armor is of solid 
plates ; that of the new Monitor is of a series of five 
plates, one over another, each an inch thick, or five inches 
in all. This armor-shelf, as we have seen, projects about 
four feet over the sides of the thin hull, which we have 
described. It is some five feet high. This hull and all 
but two feet of the armor-shelf is below the water when 
the vessel is afloat ; consequently, no shot fired from an 
opposing vessel or battery can possibly reach the lower 
hull ^athout first having penetrated the iron-plated armor 
timbers. This 'platform' — for this is the most con- 



LIFE OF JOHN EBICSSON. 175 

venient term by which to designate it — ^projects at the 
sides, as we have seen, about four feet beyond the proper 
hull, but at the bow and stern much more, in, order to 
afford a like protection to the rudder, propeller, anchor, 
and capstan. The projection at the stern is about ten 
feet, at the bow about sixteen." 

And now let us look at the turret-building — ^the very 
part without which iron-clads, but not monitors, would 
darken the waters : 

" The turret, or castle, is made of a series of plates 
of rolled iron, eleven in number, each an inch thick. Aa 
they come here from the mills where they are rolled they 
are simply iron boards, nine feet long, three wide, and an 
inch thick. Each of them is to be bent into the shape of 
the segment of a circle, twenty-three feet in diameter, 
which is to be the size of the turrets. For this purpose 
a massive press has been prepared. The bed, which is 
movable up and down, has its upper surface turned to the 
precise curve of the turret. This is raised by a hydraulic 
ram capable of giving a pressure of 1,400 tons against a 
stationary plate, whose lower surface has the same curve 
as the bed. The flat turret plate is slid into this press, 
the ram is worked, the bed rises, and the plate is bent to 
the curve of the mould. This is done without heating 
the plates, the enormous pressure being sufficient to give 
them the form required, without the necessity of rendering 
these inch plates ductile by heat. They are now' taken to 



17G LIFE OF. JOHIT EEICSSOK. 

an adjacent building and temporarily set up into a turret 
Here a circle of solid oak timber has been laid down as a 
foundation. Upon this a framework of boards has been 
built of the shape of the turret, to support the plates in 
the position which they are to assume. This looks much 
like the skeleton of a gigantic cistern ; against this frame 
the plates of the first course are placed, the necessary 
holes for the bolts having been meanwhile punched in 
them. Then the second course is set up against this, the 
bolt holes of which must be made to correspond exactly 
with tho^e of the first. This is done by a simple process. 
The end of a pine stick, of the size of the holes ia the 
first plate, is covered with paint, thrust through the holes, 
leaving its mark on the plate of the second course. These 
white marks show exactly where the holes in the second 
course are to be made. This being done, the third course 
is set up in like manner ; the places for the holes marked, 
r.he plates taken away and punched, brought back again, 
ret up in place ; and so on v/ith the whole eleven courses 
of which the tiurret is composed. The holes in these 
jlates ai*e punched instead of being drilled, as we have 
s.'.en done in the thick plates. This is performed by a 
powerful punching machine, which, at a single stroke, 
drives out a ' button,' making a clean hole of the size re- 
quired as rapidly as the workmen can move the plates 
under the prjich. "We have seen twenty holes of this siza 
puncjied in a minute. The courses are aU so arranged a3 



LITE OF JOHN EEICSSOK-. lYT 

to * break joints;' that is, the joints between no two 
courses are directly opposite each other. The courses 
being all set up, if we look through the holes we shall see 
that, although they come very weU. in a line, there are 
some little irregularities — a very slight variation in each 
plate becoming quite noticeable when multiplied by the 
v/hole eleven. This is very easily remedied by means of 
a steel instrument called a ' reamer' — ^a bit, in fact, with 
two sharp edges- This is passed through the whole length 
of the hole, and turned about, trimming off aU the irreg- 
ularities, and making the hole as smooth as the bore of a 
gun. Our turret is now set up and finished, with the ex- 
ception of the fixtures and the portholes for the two guns. 
These are to be drilled out of the soKd mass, and the 
edges of the plates properly secured. Each plate has of 
course been numbered — ' Plate 1, Course 1,' and so on 
tlu'ough the whole series, 242 for each turret, if we count 
coiTectly ; so that, having been taken down, they can be 
readily set up on board the vessel itself in just the same 
order. On the vessel the tui-ret rests upon a circular base 
of brass, which revolves upon a similar plate upon the 
deck, by means of a shaft worked by a steam engine." 

" And where is Captain Ericsson during all this hard 
and busy work?" 

"He was in every part of the vessel apparently a: 
die same moment, skipping over planks and gangways, 
and up and dov/n la.dders5 as though he were a boy of six- 

a* 



178 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

teen. It seemed as though a plate could not be placed or 
a bolt struck without his making his appearance at the 
workman*s side." 

Thousands of people went to look at the strange me- 
tallic craft, taking form under the blows of hundreds af 
strong arms. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



What Visitors said of the Monitor— The Launch— A Memorable Day— The 
Completed "Work— The Vessel manned and at Sea— The Voyaga— The Naval 
Position— The Crisis. 



CURIOUS volume indeed might have been writ- 
ten of the scenes and comments v/hich attended 
the creation of the silent, gloomy object of won- 
der. " The Monitor, while on her ' w^ays,' was 
quite generally regarded as an experiment that 
would be sure to fail. She was deficient, it was said, in 
this point and that. She could not carry her weight of 
armor ; her turret would not revolve properly ; no living 
men could work her guns in that narro'NV space ; and, 
first of an, in the judgment of experienced ship-builders, 
she could never be launched. There was plausibility 
in this opinion. The raft-like upper hull, projecting 
far beyond the lower one, was so loaded with armor 
as to be far heavier than water, and besides there 
was the weight of the pondei'ous turret and the heavy 



■H 



180 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

macliiuery. This would strike the water first, with noth- 
ing to sustain it. and so when the vessel slid from her in- 
clined ways, she would go straight doT;\Ti to the bottom 
like an iron bar. ' If Ericsson ever finds his battery 
after she is launched,' it was said, ' he will have to fish 
her up from the mud, into which her stern will surely 
plunge.' And so he would have done had she been sent 
alone from her ' ways.' But this casualty had been fore- 
seen and provided for by Mr. Rowland. Two great 
wooden tanks had been prepared, which, before the 
launch, Vv^ere chained to the almost solid overhanging 
stern of the upper hull, buoying it up as they touched the 
water until the lower hull came into the stream. Valves 
in the tanks were then opened, the water rvished in, sink- 
ing them down ; then they were disengaged, floated off, 
and in a quarter of an hour the Monitor rested upon an 
even keel. As we have said, she was launched, contrary 
to the usual custom, with her engines on board. These 
had been put in working order beforehand ; and as far as 
the builders wore concerned, the battery might have put 
to sea in half an hour after her launch." 

You may be sure there was music to Captain Erics- 
son's ear in the wild, repeated cheers of the multitude, as 
the monster glided so gracefully, after all, upon the bosom 
of the deep, which Avas yet to hear the monster speak with 
thunder to echo round the world ! 

Though there will be a little necessary repetition to 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 181 

get a clear idea of tlie monitor, we will describe the ves- 
sel as she lies on the tide, attracting unnumbered eyes. 
The hull or body of it is composed of two separate parts. 
The lower division, whidh rests on the water, is 124 feet 
long, 34 feet wide, and 6|- feet deep. It is made of iron 
three eighths of an inch thick ; that is, it is an iron canoe 
on a large scale, nearly half an inch thick. The upper 
part is 174 feet long, jutting over the other a little, more 
than 41 feet wide, and 5 feet high. It is built of oak 2|- 
feet thick, covered on the outside with sis inches of iron 
plates, and on the inside lined with iron half an inch in 
thickness, to catch the splinters in case a baU tears its way 
into the oak. The deck is soKd iron-plating, bomb-proof, 
and without any railing — indeed almost bare. Under the 
two layers of iron, each two inches thick, making 
four inches of metal, is plank eight inches in thickness 
laid on beams of oak two feet and two inches apart, ten 
inches square. Only a foot and a half of the entire hull 
is above water. Then the projecting edges of the upper 
portion, resembKng the eaves of a house, cover and pro- 
tect the propeller and rudder in the stern, and the anchor 
in the bow. The locomotive and steering apparatus can- 
not be reached by an enemy's shot ; and the anchor is 
lifted and lowered out of sight and exposure. 

Now take a look at the castle or turret, where the 
fighting is principally to be done. It is a circular apart- 
ment, sixty feet around it, and nine feet high. This ;§ 



182 LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSOIT. 

made of eight layers of iron, each an inch thick, over- 
lapping, and holted together, and lined with the same 
metal, making in all nine inches of ii'on. It weighs about 
one hundred tons, or two milKons df pounds. The cover- 
ing is of iron and shell-proof, and perforated to let in air. 
It has two large guns, which, when used, are thrown for- 
ward by machinery, putting their mouths out of the port- 
holes, which are near each other on the same side. The 
recoil, or shock of firing, sends them back to their den 
again, where they are stopped by a clamp, in the right 
place. The castle, when not needed for battle, rests on a 
circular bed of composition metal, resembling the rim of 
a large Avheel lying flat, and made fast to the deck. In 
time of action, by a powerful lever it is lifted upon a 
shoulder or projection around an iron shaft, and turned 
by the steam engine, which also works the blowers of the 
furnaces below. When the. command is given to get 
ready to fire, the iron sliutters of the portholes, which slide 
on the inside, fly open, the lever is touched, the cannons 
look out of the holes, speah, and ghde back again for a 
new charge to the enemy. If the direction of the foe is 
changed, another lever is moved, and round the turret 
goes till the aim is right, and once more the thunderers 
march up to the windows, and utter their voices, sending 
with fiery breath solid speech in behalf of peace, over the 
deep. 

The pilot-house, for the helmsman, is built shot-proof 



LITE OF JOHX EEICSSON. 183 

like the tuiTet, with small openings for the outlook, 
through which, if desirable, musketry can be fired. 
The low chimneys of the steam engine can be entirely 
removed, and the smoke escape through flat gratings on 
the deck. The " blowers," you know, fan the fires without 
the need of chimney-draft. This makes a clear deck, and 
so shut up that if an enemy should board the battery he 
could not get below — aU he would find would be an iron- 
pavement and towers. The sharp iron prow is a power- 
ful ram for crushing against and destroying an opposing 
vessel, if vulnerable. 

" Can a ship be made which no cannon ball or bomb 
shell can pierce ? " is a question you may ask. I will 
give you the opinion of those who know all that can be 
known until further experiments are tried : 

" Whether any thickness of armor can be absolutely 
impregnable may be a matter of doubt. There is an old 
paradox of the schoolmen which runs in this form : ' We 
can conceive of an irresistible force, and also of an im- 
m.ovable body. Now suppose this irresistible force meets 
that immovable body, what wiU be the result ? ' The an- 
swer is, that the irresistible force will be resisted, and the 
immovable body will be moved. A question not unlike 
this is presented to artillerists and naval constructors of 
our day : ' Can a gun be constructed which will send a 
ball tlirough any armor that can be made ? and can an 
arinor be constructed which wiU resist a ball frona any 



184 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

possible gun ? ' Theoretically, we must answer botli of 
these questions in the affirmative, and so give the para- 
dox : ' We can make armor which will resist any shot, 
and can make guns that will penetrate any armor.' Prac- 
tically — the ra,unted English experiments of Sir WUliam 
Armstrong to the contrary notwithstanding — we thiak 
the advantage lies on the side of the armor. "We believe 
that our new Monitors will be, for aU practical purposes, 
impregnable. We think the chances are a hundred to 
one that the turrets which we have described would not 
be injvu'ed by any gun yet constructed ; and that, if addi- 
tional strength should be required to repel an additional 
projectile force, the thickness of armor can be increased 
more easily than the projectile force. Theoretically there 
is no limit to either. Practically, there is a limit to both ; 
and this, we think, will be reached in the case of the can- 
non sooner than in that of the armor." 

You may live to see the question answered in the 
progress of invention. When you reflect that men are 
living who saw the first steamer on any waters, and hov/ 
fast the world is moving, it will make you feel that the 
world's Creator and Guardian alone can tell us the won- 
ders of science to come. 

The hand of Captain Ericsson alone had prepared 
nearly three thousand diagrams and models of the ship's 
various parts in the course of its construction. The cost 
was fixed by Congress at $175,000. The next thing to 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 185 

be done for the Monitor was to man her — in other words, 
put on board the officers and crew. Lieutenant J. Lorimer 
Worden waa appointed commander, and Allan C. Stim- 
mers, engineer. 

These officers, with the necessary number of subor- 
dinates to manage the curious vessel, were ready to leave 
the moorings on the 6th of March, 1862. The gunboats 
Sachem and Currituck were to be the companions of the 
Monitor, and tow her to the ocean-field of action. 




CHAPTER XVn. 

The Merrimao leaves her Moorings — ^The JamestoTvn and Torktown — The NavaJ 
Eaid — The Fearful Struggle — Undying Heroism — The Ocean Scene of De- 
struction — The Closing Day. 

E turn now to the Southern scene of preparation 
for the Ifonitor, although the rebel actors there 
did not dream of such a visitor. I will give 
you a good account of this from the pen of a 
popular writer, who made himself familiar with 
all the incidents of the treasonable work : 

" Upon the burning and evacuation of the Norfolk 
Navy Yard, the steam frigate Merrimac was scuttled and 
sunk by order of Commodore McAulay. This was one 
of the most magnificent ships in the American navy, being 
rated as a forty-gun frigate, of 4,000 tons burden. She 
was built in Charlestown, Mass., in 1856, and was con- 
sidered one of the finest specimens of naval architecture 
then afloat. She was 281 feet long, 52 feet broad, and 
drew 23 feet of water. Her engines were of 800 horse 
power, driving a two-bladed propeller, 14 feet in diam« 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 187 

eter, and so adjusted as to be raised from the water wlien 
the vessel was driven by wind alone. Her armament 
consisted of twenty-four nine-inch shell guns, fourteen 
eight-inch, and two one-hundred-pound pivot guns. 

" This magnificent structure was raised by the rebels 
and cut down, leaving only the hull, which was exceed- 
ingly massive and solid. Over this they constructed a 
sloping shield of railroad iron, firmly plated together, 
and extending two feet under the water. Its appearance 
was much like the slanting roof of a house, set upon a 
ship's hull, like an extinguisher — ^the ends of the vessel, 
fore and aft, projecting a few feet beyond this roof. The 
gun-deck was completely enclosed by this shield, and 
nothing appeared above it but a short smoke-stack and 
two flagstafis. The weight of iron was so immense that 
the ship nearly broke her back in launching ; but the 
fracture was repaired. The fact that such a formidable 
mailed battery was in preparation, was well known at the 
North, and her speedy appearance was daily predicted by 
the press. 

" About noon of Saturday, the 8th of March, 1862, this 
monster was seen coming around Craney Island, from 
Norfolk, accompanied by two other war vessels, the 
Jamestown and Torktotvn, both formerly passenger steam- 
ers, running between New York and Richmond, and 
subsequently altered into rebel war steamers. These 
were followed by quite a little fieet of armed tugs and 



188 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

war craft. Tlie raonster Mei-rimac, with her imposing 
retinue in train, headed for Newport News, where there 
was a national garrison, guarded by the saihng frigates, 
the Cumberland, of 1,726 tons, and the Congress, of 
1,867 tons burden. Both of these fine frigates were at 
anchor within half a mile of the shore battery. The 
crew of the Congress had recently been discharged, and 
three companies of the naval brigade were manning her 
temporarily, until she could be relieved by the St. Law- 
rence, which was then at anchor in the Roads. As both 
the Congress and the Cumherland were merely sailing 
vessels, they Avere much at the mercy of their steam op- 
ponents; 

" The Merrimac steamed majestically along, as if con- 
scious of resistless strength, and, as she passed the Con- 
gress, discharged a single broadside into the doomed ship, 
and then leaving her to the attention of the Jamestown and 
TorJdown, made directly for the Cumherland. "When the 
Merrimac was Vt^ithin a hundred yards of the two frigates, 
they both discharged their tremendous broadsides against 
her armor. The mailed monster quivered a moment 
under the fearful concussion, but every ball glanced from 
her sloping shield, like the wooden arrows of the Indian 
from the hide of the crocodile. Her ports were aU closed. 
Not deigniug to pay any attention to the fierce but harm- 
less assault of the two frigates, she rushed straight for 
ward upon her prey. 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 189 

" The formidable national battery at Ne^vport News 
opened with aU its massive guns, at point-blank range, and 
these solid shot and shells also glanced harmlessly away. 
On rushed the silent Merrimac, with not a soul on board 
to be seen, true as an arrow, and, with all the power of her 
irresistible weight, plunged headlong, with a fearful crash, 
into the side of the helpless frigate. The iron prow of the 
assailant struck the Cumlerland amidships, crushing in 
her side with a mortal gash. Then, reversing her en- 
gine, and not even annoyed by the cannon balls rattling 
against her impervious mail, she retraced her steps a few 
rods for another butt. As she drew back she turned her 
broadside to the wounded victim, and hurled into her 
bosom a merciless volley of shot and shells. It was a 
terrible discharge from hundred-pound Armstrong guns, 
every shot of which, at that distance, would have pierced 
the armor of the Warrior^ of England, or the La Gloire, 
of France. The ponderous missiles tore through the 
crowded ship, hurling her massive guns about her decks, 
and scattering mutUated bodies in all dkections. Again 
gathering headwaj^, she crowded on all steam and made 
aioUier plunge at the Cumlerland. She struck directly 
upon the former wound, and crushed in the Avhole massive 
oaken side of the ship, as if it had been a lattice- work of 
laths. Timbers as strong as nature and art could make 
them, were snapped and crushed like dry twigs. But 
the Cumlerland, though overcome, though helpless as a 



190 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

babe in a giant's arms, was not vanquished. Bravely her 
heroic crew, under the command of Lieiitenant George 
M. Morris, fought as against fate itself. No gun was 
silent that could speak. "With courage and coolness un- 
precedented, tliej took the most careful aim, attempting 
to penetrate the portholes, the only vulnerable point of 
their terrible adversary. The smoke-stack of the Jfern- 
mac was riddled with their shot ; the flag-staff shot away, 
and her anchor bent as if it had been moulded from lead, 
but the iron-cased battery scarcely showed a scratch. The 
crew of the Cumberland seemed inspired with a super- 
natural desperation. When aU hope was gone, they still 
with one voice vow^ed that they would never surrender 
the Cumherland to the rebels, and heroically their guns 
reiterated the vow, as the ship settled deeper and deeper 
in the engulfing wave. From lip to lip the cry passed 
along the deck, ' The ship is sinking.' Yet not a man 
left his gun ; not a white flag was waved ; no hand moved 
to draw down our national banner before the detested 
rebel flag, terrible as was the power which rebellion now 
developed. Not a man turned his eye toward the life- 
boats for escape. One sentiment glowed in every heart : 
' Honor the flag.' One sentiment burst from the lips of 
aU, even from those who were strewed in mutilation over 
the decks — their life-blood fast ebbing — and tliat utterance 
was : ' We will never surrender ! ' Heroic men ! greater 
in defeat than you could possibly have been in victory. 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 191 

" Rapidly the ship settled in the waves. The water 
began to sv.'ash over the upper deck, and still everj un- 
submerged gun was hurling defiance at the foe. The ship 
careened upon one side. The last gunner, knee-deep in 
water, pulled the trigger of the last gun, and the dying 
words of the Cumberland were uttered. There was a 
whirl, a plunge, a boiling cauldron of air-bursting billows, 
and the majestic frigate, with all her deaid and all her 
wounded, sank like lead. A few feet of her topmasts rose 
above the wave, and there the ' Stars and Stripes still 
floated, victorious in death.' " 

The following list of ofiicers is the Gumherlancl's " roll 
of honor," names of men who have no superiors on war's 
historic page, in that martial bravery which inspires the 
less conspicuous heroes in the ranks : Commander, Lieu- 
tenant George M. Morris ; Lieutenant and executive offi- 
cer, H. Y. Davenport ; Lieutenant, T. O. Selfriades ; Sur- 
geon, S. Jackson ; Assistant Surgeon, W. W. Leavitt ; 
Paymaster, C. Burt ; Chaplain, J. Lenhart ; First Lieu- 
tenant of Marines, C. Hayward ; Boatswain, E. B. Beal ; 
Gunner, G. Mack ; Carpenter, "W. M. Leighton ; Sail- 
maker, D, Bruce. These defenders of the national en- 
sign, like Lawrence, if they did not shout in death, " Dod'S 
surrender the ship ! " acted out the sentiment with equal 
gallantry till that banner fluttered over the good ship's 
watery grave. Not alone vv^ent down that shattered ves- 
sel. Upon and between her decks were the gory and 



192 LIFE OF JOHK EEICSSOiN". 

ghastly dead, unheeding the tragedy. Their coffin wag 
the noble Gumherland, and their sepulchre the sea they 
loved, and which had upborne the theatre of their valor. 
But around the calm sleepers were scores of torn warriors, 
v/hose life remained in the grasp of suffering — the red 
current ebbing, and yet they uncomplaining. The dead and 
wounded numbered nearly a hundred, all beneath the 
tide, which soon quenched the flickering light of life. 
Around that signalled burial were adrift hundreds of sea- 
men, many of them stained with their own blood. Crim- 
soned fragments of the wreck were mingled with these 
forms of life. But look toward the shores, and watch the 
boats darting from all points over the waters to rescue the 
imperilled throng. 

Meanwhile there is another scene of fearless daring 
and noble sympathy, which casts beautiful light upon the 
gloomy aspect of war. The propeller Whillden, which 
had been moored under the guns of Newport News, half 
a mile distant, starts the iron paddles and pushes into the 
range of the enemy's fire, either to save some of the 
crew or go down beneath the heavy shot. Without 
a fear or care beyond his mission of mercy. Captain Wil- 
liam Riggins steers directly for the struggling multitude- 
The foe seemed to recoil from assailing the messenger of 
humanity in his power, and not until the last man is 
picked up and taken on board did he ventm-e to express 
his hate. Then a single ball from the Merrimac pierces 



LITE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 193 

her boiler, and she is left to regain the harbor, crippled 
but not destroyed. The deadly and complete work of the 
mailed giant has occupied only forty-five minutes. 

The exultant enemy's next target for the hot ordnance 
was the Congress. The crew was incomplete, and the 
hopelessness of encounter, together with that consider- 
ation, led the commander to attempt an escape. Sails 
were spread, and the grand representative of the navy of 
the past moved rapidly over the tide. There was a pros- 
pect of keeping out of the Merrimac's way, for she could 
no more stand before her solid prow and protected guns, 
than a summer dwelling could resist the " artillery of 
heaven." The thunder-cloud's bolts would no more cer- 
tainly pierce and bum, than the cannon-shot of the rebel 
steamer, if once within reach of the Congress. A few 
moments only did the proud ship walk the waters. She 
struck a sand-bar, and the sails idly hung around her 
masts. The gunboats Jamestown and Yoi'Jctown, which 
steamed around the arena of conflict, to open fire when- 
ever it promised success, approached the Congress and 
opened their guns upon the frigate. The man-of-war re- 
plied with broadsides, which compelled the assailants to 
retire till the Merrimac could come to their help. TLt^y 
did not wait long. The champion of treason defied the nscvy 
of the Republic. The Congress hurled her shot from the 
Qaming lines of port-holes in vain. The challenging foe 
chose deliberately the position most favorable, regardless 
9 



194: LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 

of the ponderous hail. When ready for the contest, with 
the voice of thunder the MerrimciG poured shot and shell 
upon the Congress^ in a storm which paused not for the 
harmless rattle of balls upon an unyielding coat of mail. 
The gunboats, emboldened by the damaging fire of the 
leader in the conflict, rushed upon the foe, the more will- 
ing to join in the fierce onset because of the first repulse. 
They came up on different quarters, and with other rebel 
ships fairly piled the red-hot missUes of destruction upon 
the frigate's deck. Crash, crash went these metallic 
globes through mast, sides, and deck, and through ranks 
of brave men. Limbs and flesh were carried away, until 
the shattered planks ran blood, and fragments of palpita- 
ting, dying men lay on every side. The heavy cannon 
were lifted from theii- carriages and rolled among the 
slain gunners. Then rose from three difierent parts of 
the vessel tongues of flame. The frigate was on -Rtq I 
The rising wind fell on the centres of ruin, and upward 
flashed in grand and awfal columns the devouring ele- 
ment. The dry wood of the ship's frame was tinder 
for the conflagration, which in a brief time swept over the 
entire cii'cle of death. Still the Star-spangled Banner 
v/as kept flying. But when the flames began to lay their 
burning fingers on the wounded, Avho were compelled to 
answer to the touch with a groan, then the aiinjured sur- 
vivors couhl no longer bear the sight. They looked up to 
the old flag, and down upon their comrades, while tears fell 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICGSOK. 195 

on tlie heated deck. To burn alive the helpless and bleed- 
ing was more than theii- stout hearts conld let the fires kin- 
dled by rebel cannon do, even under the country's banner. 
The colors were struck. Then a tugboat from the ene- 
my's fleet was sent to rescue the prisoners from the red 
billows, more dreadftd than those amid which the noble 
frigate had wrestled victoriously. Our sharpshooters 
sent Minnie buUets whistling among the crews which 
manned the ships of treason. This maddened the foe, 
and to avenge the injury the Merrimac poured an- 
other voUey into the Congress, dealing death on every 
hand. The barbarity of the deed is apparent. The 
white flag streamed from the mast, and an otficer waived 
his white handkerchief from her crimson and flame- 
"wrapped deck. The officers fell into the hands of the 
traitors, and the rest of the ship's crew reached the shore 
in their boats. The abandoned man-of-war was a pyramid 
of flame. 

Leaving it the Merrimac turned her prow toward 
the St. Lawrence and Minnesota. These frigates, too, 
were fast in the ocean-sands, and at the mercy of the an- 
tagonist, hastening to the prey. Quite reckless of expos- 
ure, and sure of easy conquest, the monster T,^ent near the 
helpless men-of-war before firing a gun. The Minnesota 
opened her large guns upon the daring Merrimac. The 
impetuous charge upon the iron-clad so close upon her, told 
upon the triumphant invader. There was a pause, an 



196 LIFE OF JOHN EKIC3S0K. 

appearance of trouble in the craft. Whetlier or not 
througli tlie port-holes balls found their way, doing 
damage, we cannot tell. The sun was sinking and the 
Union ships were fast. So the rebel champion decided 
to rest, and make a morning pastime of finishing the frig- 
ates. Proudly retiring from the battle plain the Merri- 
mac steamed back to moorings behind Craney Island. 
We can imagine the congratulations which passe(^ from 
lip to lip in that dark ship, and the vain-glorious boast of 
the next day's achievements. Meanwhile the Congress 
burned on, the crackling pile contracting in the embrace 
of the devom-ing element. The night darkened around it, 
giving awful sublimity to the scene. The beacon light of 
heroism, and at the same time the torch of civil war, cast 
its ruddy glow upon charred and floating timbers, the 
blood-tinged waters, and the silent but impatient foe, 
waiting for the dawn to renew the combat. At mid- 
night the fire reached the magazine. Then a volcanic 
burst of fiery fragments of the frigate's hull, a sound of 
earthquake-thunder, and the air was filled with a shower 
of brands and furnace sparks, falling upon the ocean's 
surging breast. Oh ! what a scene for loyal eyes ! What 
a darkness was that which followed the last flame which 
went out in the waters ! Every Union heart in that fleet 
and in the fortress of Hampton Eoads throbbed with de- 
spair. There was no gleam of hope. The Merrimac was 
impervious to balls, and could go where she pleased. In 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 197 

tlie morning it would be easy work to destroy our whole 
fleet. She could then shell Newport News and Fortresa 
Monroe at her leisure, setting every thing combustible in 
flames, and driving every man frorn the guns. 

"As the news of the terrible disaster was flashed 
over the country by the telegraphic wires, all faceg 
wore the expression of consternation. At Washington 
Congress was in session. The panic cannot be de- 
scribed. There was really nothing to prevent the 3fer- 
rimac from ascending the Potomac and laying the Cap- 
ital in ashes, providing there was depth of water to float 
the steamer, and no one knew whether there was this 
depth or not, for no one knew the draft of the Merri- 
mac. Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and 
Portland, were in a state of terror. The Merrimac could 
laugh at forts. 

The experiment of an hour had wrought an entire 
change in naval architecture and in defensive fortifica- 
tions throughout the world. Wooden frigates had almost 
ceased to be of any value. The blow which had struck 
the Cumherland demolished also the fleets of England and 
France. All navies went down with that frigate in the 
abyss together. It is not too much to say, that such a 
night of anxiety, of terror, of bewilderment, as followed 
the triumphant return of the Merrimac to her anchorage 
behind Craney Island, this world has seldom witnessed 
before. 



lyb LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 

There is no explanation of the mystery of our naval 
condition. Part of the ships were aground, and in spite 
of warnings that danger was lurking in rebel waters, we 
were unprepared for the onset, which well-nigh laid our 
navy at the feet of Jefferson Davis. 

The poet Boker has a ballad on the Cumberland, of 
stirrins; interest : 



ON BOARD THE GUMBEELAND, MAECH Tth, 1862. 

" Stand to your guns, men ! " Morris cried. 

Small need to pass the word ; 
Om' men at quarters ranged themselves 

Before the drum was heard. 

And then began the sailors' jests : 

" What thmg is that, I say ? " 
" A 'long-shore meeting-house adrift 

Is standing down the bay ! " 

A frown came over Morris's face ; 

The strange, dark craft he knew ; 
" That is the iron Merrimac, 

Manned by a rebel crew. 

" So shot your guns, and point them straight ; 

Before this day goes by, 
We'll try of what her metal's made." 

A cheer was our reply. 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOI>r. 199 

" Remember, boys, this flag of oxirs 

Has seldom left its place; 
And -when it falls, the deck it strikes 

Is covered witb disgrace. 

" I ask but this, or sink or swim^ 

Or live, or nobly die, 
Mj last sight upon earth may be 

To see that ensign fly ! " 

Meanwhile the shapeless iron mass 

Came moving o'er the wave, 
As gloomy as a passmg hearse, ' 

As silent as the grave. 

Her ports were closed, from stem to steru 

No sign of life appeared. 
We wondered, questioned, strained our eyes. 

Joked — every thing but fearei 

She reached our range. Our broadside rang, » 

Our heavy pivots roared, 
And shot and shell, a fii-e of hell. 

Against her sides we poured. 

God's mercy ! from her sloping roof 

The iron tempest glanced, 
As haU bounds from a cottage thatch, 

And round her leaped and danced. 

Or when against her dusky hull 
We struck a fan-, fuU blow, 



200 LITE OF JOHN" EEICSSOK'. 

The mighty, solid iron globes, 
Were crumbled up like snow. 



On — on — with fast-increasing 
The silent monster came ; 

Though all our starboard battery- 
Was one long line of flame, 

She heeded not, no gun she fired, 
Straight on our bow she bore ; 

Through riving plank and crushing fram< 
Her furious way she tore. 

Alas ! our beautiful trim bow, 

That in the fiercest blast 
So gently folded back the seas, 

They hardly felt we passed. 

Alas ! alas ! my Cumherlaiid, 
That ne'er knew grief before, 

To be so bored, to feel so deep, 
The tusk of that sea-boar ! 

Once more she backward drew a space,, 
Once more our side she rent ; 

Then, in the war.tormess of hate. 
Her broadside through us sent. 

The dead and dying round us lay, 

But our foemen lay abeam ; 
Her open port-holes maddened us ; 

We fired with shout and scream. 



LIFE OF JOHlSr EETCSSOlSr. 201 

We felt our vessel settling fast, 

We knew our time was brief : 
" The pumps, the pumps ! " But they who pumped, 

And fought not, wept with grief. 

" Oh ! keep us but an hour afloat ! 

Oh ! give us only time 
To be the instruments of Heaven 

Against the traitors' crime ! " 

From captain down to powder-boy 

No hand was idle then ; 
Two soldiers, but by chance aboard, 

Fought on like saUor men. 

And when a gun's crew lost a hand, 

Some bold marine stepped out. 
And jerked his braided jacket off. 

And hauled the guns about. 

Our forward magazine was drowned ; 

And up from the sick bay 
Crawled out the wounded, red with blood, 

And round us gaspmg lay. 

Yes, cheering, calling us by name, 

Struggling with failing breath. 
To keep their shipmates at the post 

Where glory strove with death. 

With decks afloat, and powder gone, 
The last broadside we gave 
9* 



I 



202 LIFE OF JOHN" EEICSSON. 

From the guns' heated iron lips 
Burst out beneath the wave. 

. So sponges, rammers, and handspikes — 
, As men-of-war's-men should- - 
We placed within their proper racks, 
And at our quarters stood. 

" Up to the spar-deck ! save yourselves ! " 
Cried Selfridge. " Up, my men ! 

God grant that some of us may live 
To fight yon ship again ! " 

We turned — ^we did not like to go ; 

Yet staying seemed but vain, 
Knee-deep in water ; so we left ; 

Some swore, some groaned with pairu 

We reached the deck. There Randall stood: 

" Another turn, men — so ! " 
Calmly he auned his pivot gun ; 

" Now, Tenny, let her go ! " 

It did our sore hearts good to hear 

The song our pivot sang, 
As nishiug on from wave to wave 

The whirring bomb-sheU sprang. 

Brave Randall leaped upon the gun, 

And waved his cap in sport : 
" Well done ! well aimed ! I saw that shell 

Go through an open port." 



. LIFE OF JOHN EEICS30N. 203 

It was oiu" last, our deadliest shot ; 

The deck was overflown ; 
The poor ship staggered, lurched to port, 

And gave a living groan. , 

Down, down, as headlong through the waves 

Our gallant vessel rushed, 
A thousand gurgling watery sounds 

Around my senses gushed. 

Then I remember little more. 

One look to heaven I gave. 
Where, like an angel's wing, I saw 

Our spotless ensign wave. 

I tried to cheer. I cannot say 

Whether I swam or sank ; 
A blue mist closed around my eyes, 

And every thing was blank. 

When I awoke, a soldier lad. 

All dripping from the sea. 
With two great tears upon his cheeks, 

Was bending over me. 

I tried to speak. He imderstood 

The wish I could not speak. 
He tnmed me. There, thank God ! the flag 

Still fluttered at the peak ! 

And there, while thread shall hang to thread, 
Oh let that ensign fly ! 



204: LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

The noblest constellation set 
Against our northern sky. 

A sign that we who live may claim 
The peerage of the brave ; 

A monument, that needs no scroll, 
For those beneath the wave 1 



CHAPTER XVni. \ 

Tbo Moaltor'a Voyage— The Night Glimpse of Her arrival by the Anxious Gar- 
risoD— This Impressions of an Eye-witness— The Morning Scenes— The Awful 
Intereat Mt in the Battery— The "Wonderful Proyidence- The Sabbath- The 
Cotfb?! 

)HE first day, Thursday, March. 6tli, was bright 
and calm on the deep. The Monitor, a little i 
castle resting on an iron base runaino; to a poin t ] 
at each end^ .cut her way through the waters as] 
if she and old Ocean were familiar friends. She 
seemed entirely at home. You cannot imagine the deep 
interest with which the commander and engineers watched 
her motions. They paced that metallic deck, observing 
with care the sailing qualities of the plain republican 
craft, whose destined and immortal part in the national 
conflict had no prophet — for none knew her worth or 
future. 

Friday dawned, and soon the wind began to lift the 
waves. With the increasing gale the billows rushed wild- 
ly OA^er the blue domain of fabled Neptune. And now 
comes a new and severer trial of the Monitor — her first 



206 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

battle, but not witli man's weapons of warfare. Only 
two feet of iron separated tbe deck from the sea when 
trj;uquil. See the mad surges come crested with foam, 
and meeting the low barrier, bury it in a moment, and 
sweep over every thing but the turret ! Even that drips 
■nith the angry baptism of the storm. But the waves re- 
tire for an instant, reveahng the flooded and unharmed 
Monitor, riding the turbulent main. There is, however, 
a single defect, which awakens some anxiety. The caulk' 
ing of a portion of the deck was imperfect, and the water 
filters through into the berth deck and engine room. The 
hours pass, and another trouble interrupts the comfort 
and darkens the prospects of the voyage. The strap 
which moved the wheel that turned the Mowers, whose 
fans both ventilated the vessel and kept the furnaces 
burning, broke. Then the coal gas rushed into the en- 
gine room, and nearly suffocated the engineers, Stimmers 
and Newton, and six others. Soon, however, the injury 
was repaired, and the hum of the blowers cleared the sub- 
terranean or subferranean apartment, and kindled afresh 
the fires. 

On Saturday the Monitor approached Fortress Mon- 
roe. The unsleeping garrison of that fortress, as the 
ten-o'clock beU struck, discerned in the darkness and dis- 
tance two ships moving toward it. A little later a third 
was seen between them with a spectral appearance — so 
unlike any thing before on the deep. 



LIPS OF JOHN EEICSSON. 207 

OL ! how they strained the vision to read some token 
of deliverance in that small fleet. 

" It is the llonitor !" flies from lip to lip. 

" But what can she do ! " is the great unanswered ques- 
tion. Impressively wrote an eye-witness of this moment- 
ous crisis : 

" That morrow ! How anxiously we waited for it ! 
How much we feared its results ! How anxious our 
Saturday eve of preparation ! At sundown there was 
nothing to dispute the empire of the seas with the Merri- 
mac ; and had a land attack been made by Magruder 
then, God only knows what our fate would have been. 
The St. Lawrence and the Minnesota aground and helpless, 
the Roanohe with a broken shaft, these were our defences 
by sea ; while on land we were doing all that was possible 
to resist a night invasion ; but who could hope that would 
have much efiiciency ! Oh ! what a night that was ; that 
night I can never forget. There was no fear during its 
long hours — danger, I find, does not bring that — ^but there 
was a longing for some interposition of God, and waiting 
upon Him, from whom we felt our help must come, in 
earnest, fervent prayer, while not neglecting the means 
of martial defence He had placed in our hands. Fugi- 
tives from Newport News kept arriving ; ladies and chil- 
dren had v/alked the long ten miles from Newport News, 
feeling that their presence only embarrassed their brave 
husbands. Sailors from the Congress and Cumberland 



208 LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 

came, one of them with his ship's flag bound about his 
waist, as he swam with it ashore, determined that the 
enemy should never trail it in dishonor as a trophj. 
Dusky fugitives, the contrabands came, mournfully fleeing 
from a fate worse than death — slavery. These entered 
my cabin hungry and weary, or passed it in long, sad 
processions. The heavens were aflame with the burning 
Congress. The hotel was crowded with fugitives, and 
private hospitality was taxed to the utmost. But there 
were no soldiers among the flying host; all in our camps 
at Newport News and Camp Hamilton were at the post 
of duty, undismayed, and ready to do all and dare aU for 
their country. The sailors came only to seek another 
chance at the enemy, since the bold Cumherland had gone 
down in the deep waters, and the Congress had gone up- 
ward, as if a chariot of fire, to convey the manly souls 
whose bodies had perished in that conflict, upward to 
heaven. I had lost several Mends there, yet not lost, for 
they are saved who do their duty to their country and 
their God. We did not pray in vain — 

' The heavy night hung dark the hills and waters o'er,' 

but the night was not half so heavy as our hearts, nor so 
dark as our prospects. All at once a speck of light 
gleamed on the distant wave ; it moved, it came nearer 
and nearer, and at ten o'clock at night the Monitor ap- 
peared. ' When the tale of brick is doubled, Mosea 



LITE OF JOHN JERICSSOHT. 209 

comes.' I never more firmly believed in special provi- 
dences than at that hour. Even skeptics for the moment 
were converted, and said, f God sent her ! ' But how in- 
significant she looked ; she was but a speck on the dark 
blue sea at night, almost a laughable object by day. The 
enemy call her ' a cheese box on a raft,' and the compari- 
son is a good one. Could she meet the Merrimac f The 
morrow must determine, for, under Grod, the Monitor is 
our only hope." 

Who can doubt the kind interposition of Him, who, by 
the gracious lips of our Redeemer declared, " Not a spar- 
row falls to the ground without His notice," and by Him 
" the hairs of om' head are numbered" — ^the God of our 
fathers. 

The commander of the Monitor, Lieutenant J. L. 
Worden, reported for duty to the Boanohe. He was not 
unknown in the nation's conflict. When Fort Pickens 
was threatened, he found his way through rebel territory, 
conveying despatches for reenforcements. He was a hero, 
ready for any adventure in behalf of the EepubHc. He 
received orders to lay beside the Minnesota, prepared to try 
her metal on the defensive, should the Merrimac make a 
night attacks 

My reader, think of this scene and the crisis in our 
history. Just out of sight lay the dread naval Goliah, re- 
joicing in the anticipation of the havoc a new day — the 
Sabbath day — would bring. Trembling with just alarm, 



210 LIFE OF JOHIT EEICSSOH. 

amid the dying emLers of tlie Congress, our remalniDg 
crews kept their vfatch. All hope of escape was centi'ed 
in tha,t strange little craft. David coming to hm-l back 
treason's proud defiance, is the symbol naturally suggested 
to the mind. 

Who was the father of that small and almost con- 
temptible bark ? 

It came from the teeming brain of a Swede, who had 
turned from English scorn and French indifference, to 
American hospitaKty and appreciation of inventive genius. 

Even here, his success in this last creation of his skjU 
was doubted. Private enterprise and not the Government 
had, in reality, secured its construction. ISTo man living 
knew ■v^^hat the nondescript could do or hear. Two port- 
holes were visible on one side of an iron circular eleva- 
tion upon the raft, while ten of these grim mouths could 
speak from the sides of the Merrimac. 

But this is God's method of sending deliverance ; in 
an unexpected and quiet way, that the praise and glory 
may be His. 

March 9th davsmed upon the waters, and on the two 
combatants, whose smoke curled upward on the vernal 
air of a cloudless sky. The bloom and fragrance of a 
"southern clime bordered the sea. The eyes of patriotic 
warriors were, fixed upon the horizon in whose golden, 
sacred light, the rebel war ships lay. At length signs of 
preparation to renew tlie attack are discerned in the dis- 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 211 

tance. Oli, then, what cheerful activity on bo.'ird the un- 
tried Monitor ! Down go the hatches, deadlight covers 
are drawn over the vulnerable outlooks, and the iron 
pavement swept of every thing but the castle and pilot 
house. 

The command for every man to be at his post is 
promptly obeyed. Then the battery goes to meet the 
terrible Merrimac, a silent, dark, turreted prison, just 
above the water's flashing mirror. The. rebel iron-clad 
looks like an ice-hoiTse as you have seen it, the roof slop- 
ing down nearly to the ground, leaving only narrow sides 
above the earth. The Jamestown and Yorktown again 
escort her to the pastime of destroying what was left of 
our naval force. Tugboats foUow in the wake, crowded 
with spectators from Norfolk, in high spirits over the 
holiday entertainment before them, which would silence 
Fortress Monroe, and thrill every loyal heart in the land 
with dismay and sorrow. Upon the turret of the Monitor 
stand Lieutenant "Worden and other officers, scanning 
with undiverted gaze every movement of the enemy 
proudly approaching them. 

To all beholders it is an hour of awful interest. The 
stillness of dread suspense seems to brood over the ocean, 
and haunt Hke a viewless presence the Sabbath air. With 
calm determination and hope, the officers and men wait at 
their stations the moment to decide the question of de- 
liverance or destruction to our shattered fleet. That mo- 



212 LIFE OF JOnif EKICSSON. 

ment now comes. A broadside from the Merrimac is 
rained on the Minnesota, anchored fast in the sands, into 
which she ploughed the day before. The frigate's return 
shot rattles like hail on the roof of her antagonist. Poor 
victim of treason ! all seems over with her now. The 
crowd on the tugs grow excited and exultant. Fine 
amusement for the Lord's day is certainly theirs. But 
now they catch a glimpse of the llonitor advancing to 
share the conflict. Whether to laugh at the " raft with a 
Yankee cheese-box upon it," or wait for further discovery 
of the intruder's character, is the curious question which 
attends the sight of our " forlorn hope." Lieutenant 
Worden is in the pilot house ; the distance is shortened to 
half a mile between the batteries, and the command to 
fire sounds on the ear of Lieutenant Green, who com- 
mands the gunners, while Engineer Stimmers has his hand 
on the lever of the revolving turret. A sound of ma- 
chinery, heard only in the dim apartments of the Monitor, 
and then a voice of thunder ; and look ! that metallic 
globe, weighing one hundred and seventy pounds, describes 
its curve toward the Merrimac. It strikes the mailed 
monster, and a tremor of amazement seems to run through 
the very frame of the victor. 

A moment's pause is followed by a fierce onset upon 
the despised antagonist. How the iron storm beats upon 
the little turret, and hisses along the deck ! Not a plate 
yields to the fire. The " cheese box" stands unbroken, 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 213 

and the " raft" still bears it on the tide. The disappoint- 
ed and maddened privateer rushes upon the Monitor, 
hoping to crush with her solid prow the stranger daring 
to dispute her sovereignty of the waters. Lieutenant 
Worden sends through the tubes to his gunners the order, 
" Reserve jour fire, aim deliberately, and do not lose a 
shot." It is now a naval duel, the like of which was 
never seen before. Thunder answers thunder — cannon 
balls are showered on the Monitor, whose massive globes 
of iron in pairs faU on the Merrimac. Round and round 
the rebel battery steams her enemy, and the turret re- 
volves to assist in the aim, sending a shot at every possi- 
bly vulnerable point, from the screw and rudder, along 
her sides to the prow. 

Thus hour after hour the fight rages — thousands of 
patriotic freemen are within their temple gates, all uncon- 
scious of the decisive struggle. The mailed ships get in 
near and final conflict. The guns of the Monitor are 
aimed at the water line — that is to say, just where the 
ship's side was washed by the sea. A heavy shot takes 
efiect, but how great the damage does not appear. 

" Splendid, sir ! splendid, sir ! Tou made the iron 
fly. You cannot do better, but fire as rapidly as you can ; " 
rang the commander's voice down the speaking tubes, on 
the ear of Lieutenant Green. Back and forth go the tre- 
mendous guns on their carriages, pounding aAvay with their 
tails upon the Merrimac. A hundred-pound shot cowea 



214 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON". 

like a ponderous sledge upon the turret, and knocks by the 
concussion tlie men from their balance, and that is all. 
The dash against her sides by the Merrimac only resulted 
in bad bruises on herself, breaking her prow, while the 
Monitor's sharp edges penetrate her coat of mail until the 
water enters. And now they touch, appearing like living 
forms of desperate courage, each determined to conquer 
or perish in the attempt. The Torhtown comes to the 
rescue : the salute of a shot weighing a hundred and 
seventy pounds disposes of her. Pierced through and 
through, she withdraws from the scene. The hot muzzles 
of the ordnance graze each other, and the cloud, echoing 
with thunder and ablaze with the lightning of battle, 
wraps the combatants from the view of aU spectators of 
the contest. The ring of metal against metal — the bound- 
ing of shot for miles over tlie waters — continued to signal 
the undecided struggle. The Monitor continues to seek 
for a weak spot in the Merrimac' s sides. Look ! she has 
succeeded. There is a rent in the side of the Merrimac, 
and now another, and then is opened still another. The 
water enters these ; the traitorous monster reels before the 
deadly blows of the Monitor. The die is cast, the victory 
won ! The rebel prow is turned again for the moorings, 
but under circumstances how different from those of 
Saturday evening ! Then the uninjured bark went with 
a conqueror's air to the night-haven ; now compelled to go, 
Vv^ith snaitten crest, the humbled rebel retires. A fare- 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON, 215 

well shot unfortunately strikes the pilot-house upon the 
grated outlook, prostrating in an instant the brave 
Worden — ^the particles of iron and powder thrown into 
his eyes, completely blinding him. He will, doubtless 
be a life-long suiFerer from the injury, but he will be re- 
membered by his countrymen, who have already raised a 
handsome purse for his material aid. Lieutenant Green, 
taking his place, pursues the retreating foe for awhile, 
when it is deemed prudent to stay with the fleet, and let 
the Ilerrimac go halting, possibly ruined, to her moorings 
again. Soon as Lieutenant Worden revives and is 
able to speak, he inquires, ' Have I saved the Minne- 
sota?' The response is, 'Yes, and whipped the Mer- 
rimacJ The reply is that of a true patriot and hero : 
' Then I care not what becomes of me.' " 

"Writes another of this grand achievement : " It was a 
glorious victory. Thousands and tens of thousands on 
the shore, from Fortress Monroe, Newport News, and all 
the rebel batteries, were watching the conflict. No tongue 
can tell the joy which thrilled the hearts of the national 
troops at the result. Cheer upon cheer rose from the 
fleet and from the fortress, and rolled like reverberating 
thunder along the shores and over the bay. 

" The shattered Merrimac was soon met by tv/o rebel 
steamtugs, who took her in their arms, and bore her 
fainting and dying to Norfolk. Her injui-ies were vital. 
After the efforts of months to repair them," she did not 



216 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

venture to leave lier hospital, again to face tlie foe, 
until, in the excess of chagrin and despair, she committed 
suicide. 

" The Monitor was entirely uninjured. She was 
struck twenty-two times on all parts of her. The indent- 
ations were so slight that a fresh coat of paint almost 
rendered them invisible, with the exception of the pilot 
house, where a ball striking, bent and cracked a huge 
iron beam, nine inches by twelve, pressing it inward one 
and a half inches. When the prow of the Merrimac came 
in contact with the side of the Monitor, an insignificant 
dent on the outside was the only mark of the encounter. 
No official report of the losses on board the Merrimac was 
ever published. The Norfolk Bay Booh stated that nine 
were killed and eleven wounded. Others of the rebel 
papers denied that there was any loss of life. 

" The Minnesota was subsequently got ofi" the shoal, 
having received no material damage. 

" Before the Monitor sailed, Captain Ericsson told the 
officers particularly to instruct the men not to be fright- 
ened at the terrible concussions of the enemy's balls against 
the outside of the turret. It might stun, but it would not 
hurt them. The concussion of shot weighing one hundred 
pounds, moTang at the rate of a third of a mUe a second, 
and striking a hollow, iron-cased chamber, within a foot 
of a man's head, can hardly be imagined. Cast-iron shot, 
striking fairly the iron mail, will crumble almost to pow- 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 217 

der. The Monitor carried out fifty wrought-iron shot. 
But orders were issued that they should not be used. 
They were exactly fitted to the bore of the guns, and it 
was- feared that, by their expansion at the moment of 
being fired, they might burst the guns. Others were sub- 
sequently made a little smaller, which would allow of ex- 
pansion. The Monitor drew but ten feet of water, and 
could conrequently go almost anywhere. 

" The night succeeding the battle there was another 
scene of terror. At midnight the thousands at Fortress 
Monroe were awakened by fearful cries from the water, 
of ' Fire ! Fire ! O God save us ! ' They rushed to the 
shore. At a little distance the national gunboat White- 
hall was all in flames. There were no boats near the 
camp. There seemed to be no hope for the crew but to 
be burned or drowned. It was a terrible sight, as the 
whole -scene was illumined as mth the light of day by the 
fire. The balls from shotted guns of the burning steamer 
were flying in all directions, endangering those who look- 
ed on. One shell struck the hospital, causing fearful 
terror, as the inmates supposed that the dreaded Merri- 
mac had returned and was shelling the forts. The con- 
flagration was caused by a red-hot shot which the Merrimac, 
during the day, had thrown through the Whitehall, and 
which had left between the timbers a smouldering spark. 
Four only of the poor seamen perished in the flames and 
water. The rest, by God's interposing kindness, suo 
10 



218 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

ceeded in reaching the shore. Thus ended this eventful 
conflict — a battle never to be forgotten, and which in- 
augurates a new era in na\'al warfare." 

The following description, by one of its oflS^cers, of the 
scene on board the Congress^ will show the terrible position 
in which that ship, and its officers and crew, were placed : 

" The second shot came into the stern while Captain 
Mclntire and myself were in the captain's cabin, firing 
from Sharp's rifles into the portholes of the Merrimac. 
The ball passed between the captain and myself, killing 
a marine who was also there, knocking the captain down, 
and knocking me against the door of the pantry. The 
stove was knocked over, and every thing inside broken 
up. The baU passed along the spar deck, kUling Mr. 
Thomas Moore, acting master. We carried the marine 
belov^, and got a pail of water and put out the cabin fire, 
and went to work again, firing rifles out of the hole the 
ball made. After exhausting my supply, I went outside, 
and Mr. Pendergrast asked me, ' Where is Mr. Smith ? ' 
I did not know, and I went to look for him, the balls still 
v/liistling around me and mowing their way through the 
ship, fore and aft. Mr. Smith's cap was found by mas- 
ter's mate Baurey, all torn up, and his body wa^ound 
soon after. We still fought them as well as we could 
with the two stern chasers ; but finding that resistance 
was useless, we struck our colors at a quarter to four 
o'clock. The rebel boat Beaufort came alongside of us 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 219 

and said, ' The officers are prisoners, and send the cre^w 
ashore,' and waited to burn the ship. The executive 
officer of the Congress demurred to the burning of the 
ship before the wounded and crew were on shore, and 
said he shouldn't do it. The ship had then been on fire 
about an hour. The Indiana Twenty-first regiment were 
on the sandy beach of the shore, and sending rifle balls 
thick and fast on the rebel boat ; some also hitting our 
men. The rebel officer, a midshipman, ordered some of 
the crew on board, and I presume about fifty got on her, 
but subsequently jumped off and got on the ship again. 
I then went below to pack up my things — expecting to be 
a prisoner of war — ^had them brought on deck, but the 
rebel was compelled to draw off, in consequence of rifle 
balls from shore. 

" The Merrimac, after the Beaufort left us, poured in 
another broadside, killing eight or ten men. I then went 
below to get the company roUs, and had to wade in blood 
and water ankle deep to get to the room in which those 
books were. I found it full of smoke, and considerably 
broken up, and every thing knocked ia pieces. I began 
to feel along the floor for the roll books, when a shell 
burst in the cockpit, the pieces flying around like haU. 
The partition between the rooms, and pieces of furniture, 
chairs, bureau, &c., broken up by the force of the explo- 
sion, completely covered me ; bi4 I finally succeeded in 
getting out with what I went after." 



220 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOST. 

Lieutenant Pendergrast states : " Seeing that our men 
were being killed, without the prospect of any relief from 
the Minnesota, which vessel had run ashore in attempting 
to get up to us from Hampton Eoads, not being able to 
get a single gun to bear upon the enemy, and the ship 
being on fire in several places, upon consultation with 
Commander William Smith, we deemed it proper to haul 
down our colors, without any further loss of life on our 
part. We were soon boarded by an officer of the Merri- 
mac, who said he would take charge of the ship. He left 
shortly afterward, and a small tug came alongside, whose 
captain demanded that we should surrender and get out 
of the ship, as he intended to burn her immediately. A 
sharp fire with muskets and artillery was maintained from 
our troops ashore upon the tug, having the efiect of driv- 
ing her off. The Merrimac again opened upon us, although 
we had a peak to show that we were out of action. After 
having fired several shells into us, she left us and engaged 
the Minnesota and the shore batteries, after which the 
wounded were taken ashore in small boats, the ship hav- 
ing been on fire from the beginning of the action, from 
hot shot fired by the Merrimac. 

" The Cumherland commenced sinking soon after the 
second blow was given her. Before the frigate had en- 
tirely sunk, they continvied to work every gun above the 
water line. One of her after guns was discharged at the 
enemy as she was actually going down, prow foremost 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 221 

She sunk in about forty-two feet of water. She sunk 
very slowly. There was no effort to escape, no rush to 
the boats, not a sign of surrender, and, as she settled, her 
guns were suUenly fought to the last moment, and the na- 
ioiial ensign stiU floated defiantly from its staff. 

" The United States steam frigate Minnesota, in at- 
tempting to come to the relief of the Congress and Cum- 
herland, grounded ; and under the peculiar circumstances 
of the first day's fight, it probably saved that vessel from 
sharing the fate of her comrades ; for where she lay, the 
Merrimac could not come nearer than one mile of her, and 
the fire of the former was so inaccurate, that but one of 
her shots hit the Minnesota. The rebel steamers YorJc- 
fown and Jamestown, however, took such position as to 
escape the sweep of most of the gims of the Minnesota, 
and several of their shots took effect upon her. They 
continued the fire upon the Minnesota about three hours, 
when they aU withdrew toward Norfolk. 

" Thus ended the first day's fight. The day closed, 
indeed, with sadness in the hearts of our officers, besides 
having the fact resting on their minds that the hostile ma- 
chine, that had just made such murderous work, had only 
retired, apparently to recruit itself, and then return to 
complete the destruction she had commenced, having the 
sailing vessels here at her mercy. While despondency 
settled on many brows, and conjectures were rife as to 
where the Merrimac would direct her attention the next 



222 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 

day, a gleam of hope arose. At eight o'clock in tte 
evening a bright, movable light was discovered seaward, 
coming from the direction of Cape Charles light. It being 
known that the Ericsson battery had left New York a few 
days previous, sm'mises were rife that this light might 
proceed from her deck. The best night telescopes were 
brought into requisition, and in less than half an hour 
after it first hove in sight, the fact was circulated that the 
Ericsson battery was coming up the Roads. The news 
spread like wildfire ; the ramparts in the fort were soon 
lined with troops. At nine o'clock the Monitor anchored 
ofi" Fortress Monroe. Lieutenant Commanding "Worden 
immediately reported to flag-officer Marston, and subse- 
quently to General Wool. It was at once determined by 
those officers to send the battery to Newport News, to 
protect that post, also to defend the Minnesota, which was 
still on shore. Before she started, an additional supply 
of ammunition was placed on board, and at half-past 
eleven o'clock the Monitor went on her mission, to await 
the appearance of things the following day. The arrival 
of the Monitor was, indeed, providential." 

Had Captain Ericsson done nothing in all his wonder- 
fully active life but invent this single marvel of naval 
power, his history and name would merit an imperishable 
place in our country's annals. How plainly was he God's 
gift to us ! No more certainly were the Mayflower, and 
George "Washington and Abraham Lincoln, guided by 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOIST. 223 

Him, than was the inventor and liis invention to deliver 
OUT imperilled Republic. Tlie nation was ready to praise 
both, now success had attended them. Ericsson's name 
was on every lip. 

I saw hanging upon the wall of the pleasant parlor of 
his residence a beautiful testimonial on parchment, and 
elegantly framed, from the " Empire State." The form 
and style of the large and finished engraving I cannot 
give you ; but its contents, which are a fitting and de- 
served tribute from the commonwealth, in whose chief 
city, the metropolis of the new world, he resides, and 
from whose harbor the deliverer of our imperiLled navy 
saUed. In the centre is a fine Kkeness of Captain Erics- 
son, and near the lower margin an excellent picture of the 
Monitor. 

The following is a copy of the complimentary memo- 
rial of the Ilonitor's service, and her inventor's work : 

State of New Touk, ) 

In Assembly, March 13th, 1862. j 

The recent engagement in Hampton Eoads, while 
establishing the utUity and importance of Iron-Clad 
Vessels of war, as equally confirmed the genius of our 
inventors, and the undaunted gallantry of our naval 
officers and soldiers : therefore be it 

Hesohed, That Jobin Eeiossost, in the conception and con- 
struction of the steamer Monitor^ has contributed materially 
to the protection of our forces on sea and land, and the 



224: LIFE OF JOHK EEICSSON. 

effective and speedy prosecution of the war, and is eminently 
entitled to the THAi^rKS of his oountetmest. 

Besohed, That the devoted bravery and skill of Lieutenant 
J. LoEiMEE WoEDEN", commander of the Monitor in the en- 
gagement, the untiring energy of the engineer, Allast 0. 
Stimmees, and the courage and fidelity of the other oflScers 
of the crew, challenge our respect and gratitude. 

Sesolved, That a copy of the foregoing preamble and 
resolutions, properly engrossed and authenticated, be pre- 
sented to John Ericsson, Lieutenant "Worden, and Engineer 
Stimmers. 

J. B. ousHma, oj^ii^ . 



CHAPTER XIX. 

A. Visit to the Dictator— First Impressions— The Leviathan in repose— The Tur- 
ret : how it was moved from the Iron "Works — The Machinery — The Officers' 
Quarters— The fighting qualities of the Dictator— Her Equipment and ap- 
pearance at Sea, 

)T was a bright September morning, 1864, when armed 
with a " pass" from Mr. Samuel W. Taylor, Cap- 
tain Ericsson's gentlemanly and intelKgent secre- 
tary, I started for the Dictator, lying near Mr. 
Delamater's ii'on works at the foot of Thirteenth 
street, New York. After a glance at the large estabhsh- 
ment in which most of the iron-clad's armament and ma- 
chinery were made, I went on board the floating Gibraltar. 
Your impression upon stepping on the iron deck, and find- 
ing massive metallic plates on every side, from vvhich 
vises the turret of the same material, is, that the ponder- 
ous engine of destruction must sink like a stone in the 
waters. 

But go with me over this hitherto unequalled creation 
of genius and mechanical skill. The "pass" is directed 
10* 



226 LIFE OF JOHlSr EEICSSOIf. 

to " Mr. Gilbert J. Orr," the siiperintending engm6eri. 
He opens the note, reads, and dismissing the workman to 
whom he was giving orders, with a quiet smile of Avel- 
come, he proposes to examine the turret, which is the 
object of special interest. 

Mr. Orr is a young man, and a native of New York. 
He was a studious boy, and has patiently won his way to 
his present high position. He was associated with. Cap- 
tain Ericsson in the construction of his caloric engines, 
and superintended the building of the iron-clads Passaic, 
Montauh, and Catshill. Marine machinery is no more to 
him than toys to a child. 

" Mr. Orr, before we enter that circular cannon-house, 
will you let us survey the features of the giant, and tell 
us his dimensions ? " 

" With great pleasure. Step to the bow with mg." 

"We walk over the iron pavement, past heavy chains, 
wheel, smoke pipe, and busy hands, . and stand on the 
Dictator'^ very brow. 

" This you wiU notice," remarks Mr. Orr, " is the 
ram. It is designed and believed to be invulnerable and 
formidable as a prow can be made." 

Turning toward the stern, Mr. Orr continues ; 

" It is three hundred and fourteen feet from this point 
to the extreme one aft. The greatest width is fifty feet, 
and the depth twenty-two and a half." 

It may aid the young reader in getting a correct idea 



LIFE oy JOHN ERICSSON. ■ 227 

of these dimensions, to take his own heiglit or that of a 
tall man measuring six feet-^ and divide the figures by it. 
This would give you fifty two men in a row lengthwise, 
to extend from the prow to the helm. 

But Mr. Orr is not done with the outline view of the 
Dictator^ 

" The armor shelf is four feet wide. Beginning with 
the outside, there are six one-inch plates of iron — making 
half a foot of metal. Next to this lies a wall of oak tim- 
ber, three feet thick, lined between it and the metal with 
thick felting. The last, or inside part of the armor, is 
made of iron bars four inches and a half in thickness — 
making on the armor shelf over ten inches of iron, three 
of oak, and half an inch of felting. It is certain that no 
gun yet cast or -wrought can pierce it. The ship is di- 
vided into water-tight apartments. Two large engines, 
whose cylinders are one hundred inches in diameter, 
belong to the propeller. They have six boilers, and are 
of five thousand horse power. There are in all twelve 
steam engines on board, inadi fifty-six furnaces" 

" Why, sir, have you the ten extra engines ? " 

" These are for various purposes, as I will soon have 
the pleasure of showing you. One lifts the anchor, another 
moves the turret, while still a third turns the blowers ; 
and so with other machinery for working the ship." 

" What a floating ark of iron, engines, furnaces, and 
machinery ! " you exclaim. It is a naval wonder. 



228 LEJ-E OF ' JOHN EEICSSON. 

" But let US enter the turret tlirougli tliis portliole, if 
you will dimh, rather than "vvalk in," says our attentive 
guide. 

We soon get through the polished mouth from -which 
one of the two tremendous guns is to pour lire and ponder- 
ous hail, almost large enough up and down, for it is oval, 
for you to stand erect in it. 

"This turret," continues Mr. Orr, "is fifteen inches 
thick, and is formed of two separate parts. The inner 
turret is made of six one-inch plates, for which the outer 
one is a sleeve, with an additional thickness of another 
coating of metal. Between the two is a lining of solid 
hoops or bars. The whole makes a great revolving tower, 
twenty-seven feet in diameter, and weighing about two 
hundred tons." 

" And how was it moved from the iron works?" 

" The inside turret was first brought on deck, along 
greased ways, by means of pulleys. It made only a foot 
or so at each step. But powerful machinery and steady 
work landed the whole safely here." 

Glancing around the interior of this immense turret, 
you see the levers and wheehvork for turning it and 
handling the guns connected with the steam engines 
belovf. There is a perfectly smooth metallic shoidder 
around the central shafting on which the whole revolves. 
Indeed, the management of the turret does not materially 
differ from that of the first Monitor. 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICS30X. 220 

" If you would like to see the engine room we will 
descend these steps," says Superintendent Orr, pointing 
down a steep and narrow stairway, also of iron. 

Here we are in the skeleton of the life-power. Polished 
iron shafts, wheels, and levers, massive and quiet — look- 
ing like iron freight enough to sink any ship, carefully 
laid away in the hold, itself a great iron-safe. Passing 
toward the bow, we enter the ofiicers quarters. The 
rooms are all -below the water line, neatly painted, and 
each furnished with a crib-like berth, and other conven- 
iences, but with no ornaments or luxuries of any kind. I 
think the first impression upon the mind of one who had 
seen our finest prison-structures, would be of a similar 
home on the waters. The dining hall and the state rooms 
are so plain, the light softened down, and a lattice work 
in each door, while the air of security is over all things. 
The bunks for the common sailors are comfortable, and 
the entire space below the deck is admirably ventilated. 
The brave Commodore Rodgers has an apartment differ- 
ing from other officers only in size, and some trifling 
extras, indicating the rank of the occupant. He declares 
that he wishes nothing for show ; safety and services in 
the country's defence is all he" seeks. It is no pleasure 
yacht he is to command, but an honest, unadorned, and 
kingly worker on the sea — a Republican Dictator. Her 
practical worth on the ocean-plain of battle is yet to be 
tested. Whatever defects or failures may attend the new 



230 - LIFE OF J0H2f ESICSSOIT. 

order of things in the navy, the greatness of the revolu- 
tion attending the inventions of Captain Ericsson, cannot 
be questioned, and is yet to be more clearly seen and felt 
over the world. I shall give you the story of a recent 
and splendid achievement, which, it is just to say, could 
not have shed lustre on our navy, and immortalized a 
young hero, had it not been for Captain Ericsson. That 
is, his propeller and other inventions in the armament of 
war-vessels, were the indispensable means of success. 
How quietly the little " picket" did its work ; " stole the 
march" upon a formidable foe! We copy from Mr. O. 
G. Sawyer's despatch : 

"Hampton EoADS, Va,, November 1, 1864. 
" The most audacious, brilliant, and successful affair 
of the war, occurred in the waters of North Carolina last 
week, in which, after the briefest contest but one, as it 
will prove of the best results, the rebel iron-clad ram 
Albemarle was effectually destroyed and sent to the bottom 
by a torpedo discharged by Lieutenant William B. Gush- 
ing, of the navy. The great mailed, monster that has so 
long excited the apprehensions of the Navy Department, 
and held in the Sound a force greatly in excess of that 
which was usually stationed there, now lies quietly at the 
bottom of the Roanoke River, a subject of curious contem- 
plation and dread to the fish that frequent those waters. 
In the squadron every one feels a sense of relief in reaUz 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK". 231 

iug the fact tkat the Albemarle is no longer afloat, or 
capable of doing further damage ; for it is no secret that 
she was one of the toughest customers for wooden vessels 
to confront that has yet floated. Her raid on the flotilla 
on the 5th of last Maj proved that fiict beyond a shadow 
of a doubt. She then encountered and fought to great 
advantage three heavily-armed double-enders-^the Sassa- 
cus, Matabesett, and Wyalusing — and retired only after a 
prolonged contest, slightly damaged. While she floated 
no post held by us and accessible to her was safe- She 
could go her way as she chose, in spite of the efibrts of 
our wooden vessels, unless some accident occurred to her 
which should prevent her steaming. None of the light 
draft Monitors were ready to confront, her, and she 
threatened to clear our forces out of the State of North 
CaroKna. 

" Such was the state of afiiairs subsequent to the 5th 
of May. Our squadron in Albemarle Sound had been 
largely increased by the addition of several liglit draught, 
heavily-armed vessels ; but, even with these, it was some- 
what uoubtfiil whether the possession of the Sound was 
insured us. So it was determined to get rid of the mon- 
ster in some more expeditious and certain way. 

" Lieutenant "William B. Gushing, a young officer of 
great bravery, coolness, and resources, submitted a project 
to Admiral Lee, in June last, by which he hoped, if suc- 
cessfully carried out, to rid the Sound of the Albemarle^ 



232 LIFE OF J0I?2{- Er.iGSScrr. 

and insure us its possession. Admiral Lee eBtere;! "wario 
ly into the seheme, as did the >Tavy Department, which 
i immediately detached Lieutenant Gushing from the lion- 
tkcllo and placed liirn on this special diity^ at the sanK? 
time giving him every facility to carry out the object in 
viev,\ 

'• Lieutenant Gushing at once pi'oceeded to New York, 
and, in conjunction with Admiral Gregory, Captain Boggs, 
and Ghief Engineer William W. ~W . Wood, arranged one 
of the nev/ steam picket boats, v/hieh is about the sizeof 
a frigate's launch, with a torpedo arrangement, and then 
took her down in the Sound for duty. Having made 
several reconnoissances up the Roanoke River, which 
gave hun some valuable information, and having perfect- 
ed his arrangements, on the night of the 27th ultimo he 
got under way from the squadron off the mouth of tho 
river and steamed boldly up the river. In the steara 
launch were Lieutenant Gushing, Paymaster T. 11. 
Swann, a volunteer from the Otsego, and Master's Mate 
W. L. Howorth, of the gunboat Mordicello, and Third 
Assistant Engineer Stolsbury, in charge of the engine, 
with a crew of ten men, nearly all of whom volunteered 
for the service. An armed cutter of the Shamrock, with 
an officer and ten men, was towed along, for the purpose 
of attending to som.e of the minor details of the work. It 
was known that the enemy had pickets along the river 
banks, and on the wreck of the gunboat Southfield, simk 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON". 233 

by the Albemarle last spring, and which laid al^oiit a mile 
below the town of Plymouth. The pickets, who ¥/ere in 
the habit of stationing themselves on the hurricane deck 
of the Southfield — the only portion of the wreck above 
water — were to be turned over to the care of the Sham- 
jocIc's cutter when the proper tirae came, while those along 
the river were to be passed in silence, and without giving 
alarm, if possible. 

" At about midnight the little picket boat entered the 
narrow river, and steamed cautiously and silently up with- 
out giving the least alarm. The Soidlifield and three 
schooners alongside of her engaged in raising her up, 
were passed at a short distance — almost Vi'ithin biscuit 
toss — without a challenge or hail. It was not until Lieu- 
tenant Gushing reached within pistol shot of the Alheinarle, 
which lay alongside the dock at Plymouth, that he Avas 
hailed, and then in an uncertain sort of way, as though 
the lookouts doubted the accuracy of their vision. He 
made no reply, but continued to press toward the rebel 
monster, and was for the second time hailed. He paid 
no attention to the challenge, but kept straight on his way, 
first detaching the Shamroch's cutter to go below and 
seuure the rebel pickets on the Soutlifield. 

"In another instant, as he closed in on the ram, the 
rebel Captain Walley, in a very dignified, pompous, 
studied manner, shouted, ' What boat is that ? ' The re- 
ply w^as an invitation for him to go to blank ! There- 



234 LIFE OF JOHN" EEICSS01S-. 

upon arose a terrible clamor. The rattle was vigorously 
sprung, tlie bells on the ship were sharply rung, and all 
hands were called to quarters, evidently in great conster- 
nation and some confusion. A musketry fire was imme- 
diately opened upon the torpedo boat, and a charge of 
canister was fired, injuring some of the crew. Along the 
dock to which the Albemarle was tied were a large num- 
ber of soldiers, evidently stationed there to guard against 
a landing of our force after a surprise. And in front of 
their lines blazed cheerily up a number of camp fires, 
which threw a strong light upon the rebel vessel and the 
bosom of the river. By the aid of this glare Lieutenant 
Gushing discovered the pier of floating timbers which sur- 
rounded the ram on the accessible sides, to guard against 
the approach of rams and torpedoes. And by the aid of 
the same light he plainly saw the large body of soldiers 
thronging to the wharf and blaziug away at his boat. To 
quiet these fellows he brought the bow of his boat around 
a little, and discharged a heavy stand of canister into them 
from his twelve-pounder howitzer mounted at the bow, 
and sent them flying. Making a complete circle, under a 
scorching musketry fire at less than thirty yards, he came 
around, bow on, at full steam, and struck the floating 
guard of timbers, pressing them in toward the hull of the 
ram. His boat soon lost headway, and came to a stand 
stiU, refusing to back oif or move ahead. The moment 
for decisive action had now arrived. The enemy fired 



LIFE OF JOn2f ERICSSON. 235 

muskets and pistols almost in his face from the ports of 
the ram, and from the hundred small arms on shore. 
Several of his men were wounded, and Paymaster Swaim 
Lad fallen severely wounded. The officers and crew of 
the Albemarle cried out, ' Now we've got him ; surrender. 
surrender, or we will blow you to pieces.' The case 
looked desperate indeed ; but Lieutenant Gushing was as 
cool and determined at the moment as one could be under 
the most agreeable cii-cumstances. He knew that the de- 
cisive moment had come, and he did not allow it to glide 
from his hands. He seized the lanyard to the torpedo and 
the line of the spar, and crowding the spar until he had 
brought the torpedo under the overhang of the Albemarle 
he detached it by one effort, and the next second he pull- 
ed the lanyard of the torpedo and exploded it fairly under 
the vessel on her port side, just below the porthole of the 
two hundred pounder Brooke's rifle, which at that mo- 
ment was discharged at the boat. An immense volume 
of water was thrown out by the explosion of the torpedo, 
almost drowning all in the boat ; and to add to the peril 
of the moment, the heavy shell from the enemy's gun had 
gone crushing through the bottom of the boat, knocking 
the splinters about in a terrible style. She at once began 
to sink in the most rapid manner, and Lieutenant Gush- 
ing ordered all hands to save themselves as best they 
might. He divested himself of his coat and shoes, and 
plunged into the river, followed by those of his men who 



236 LIFE OF JOUN ERIGS30S". ] 



were able to do so. All struck for the middle of the river, 
under a hot fire of musketry, the balls perforating their 
clothing and striking all about them, and in two or three 
instances, it is feared, so badly wounding the swimmers 
that they sunk before boats from the shore could reach 
them. Lieutenant Gushing heard the rebels take to boats 
and push after the survivors, demanding their surrender. 
Many gave up, but two of the seamen wore drowned near 
by him — ^whether owing to wounds received or exhaustion 
he could not state. Paymaster S^vann was wounded and 
is a prisoner ; but how many others fell into the rebel 
hands has not as yet been ascertained. Lieutenant Gush- 
ing swam down the river half a mile, until, exhausted and 
chilled by the cold water, he was compelled to struggle to 
the shore, which he reached about daylight. After ly- 
ing in the weeds along the river bank for some time, he 
recovered his strength sufficiently to crawl into the swamp 
further till daylight found him lying in the swamp grass, 
between two paths, and in speaking distance of the enemy's 
fort. While lying there but partially screened by this 
low sedge, he saw some rebel officers and men walk by, 
and heard their conversation, which was entirely devoted 
to the affair of the morning. From their remarks he 
learned that the torpedo had done its work effectively and 
thoroughly, and that his great object was accomplished. 
lie did not learn any of the details of the sinking, but 
heard it stated that the ram had gone down by her dock, 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSOF. 237 

aud was a complete loss. He also learned of the capture 
«)f the paymaster and some others of his crew from the 
same source. 

" Finding that there was great danger of his detection 
if he remained in his exposed position all day, lying 
witliin a few yards of two frequented paths, and so near 
the river, he began to move slowly away toward the 
swamp. He was obliged to move cautiously, so he laid 
on his back, and by pushing his heels into the ground he 
slowly pushed himself along, and after a long and ex- 
hausting effort passed over the sixty yards of ground that 
laid between him and bettor cover. Once concealed, 
he laid up for the day and rested himself. He Avas fortu- 
nate enough before midnight to get hold of a negro, whom 
he sent into town to learn the extent of his success. The 
negro obeyed his instructions, and reported that the 
Albemarle was out of sight — ' Clar gone sunk.' 

" At night Lieutenant Gushing struck through the 
swamp, and after the greatest and most exhausting toil 
and pain — as he was in his stocking feet, and continually 
plunging over roots, briers, logs, oyster shells, and lacer- 
ating his flesh severely, he reached a point six miles 
below the town, whei-e he discovered a skitf used by a 
picket. Watching his chance he seized this, and with a 
single paddle, paddled off to the squadron twelve miles 
distant, which he reached in safety. Only one beside 
himself — William Hoften, a eailor on the Chicopee, who 



238 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

had volunteered on the occasion — returned to the squadron. 
He was picked up by a boat and sent off when nearly 
exhausted. 

" Lieutenant Gushing immediately came here on the 
special despatch boat Valley City, and reported to Admiral 
Porter. To night he will go to Washington and report to 
the Department. He is Vv'orn out and in need of rest, which 
we hope he will be permitted to enjoy. 

" This last brave and gallant action of his is likely to 
gain him an advance of one grade in his rank, and it will 
also, if the law is rightly construed, be apt to prove a 
great financial success, which is somewhat more substan- 
tial. His share of the prize-money from the Albemarle, 
if she is fairly placed at a valuation, would be in the 
neighborhood of fifty thousand dollars — an acceptable 
sum to any one. Lieutenant Gushing has again been 
ordered to the command of the gunboat Monticello, which 
will await him until his return from a short leave. 

" The destruction of the AlbemarkvriW release the large 
squadron of powerful light-draught vessels which have, 
since her debut last May, been maintained in the Sound. 
They can go elsewhere now. 

" On areconnoisaance made by the Valley City to within 
a mile of Plymouth, it was discovered that the enemy had 
sunk the schooners which were engaged in attempting to 
raise the Southfield directly across the channel, thus tem- 
porarily blockading the river. Although the town was in 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOJr. 239 

sight, not a trace could be seen of the rebel ram, and it is 
proved in other ways, beyond a doubt, that she lies in 
thirty feet of water, from v»'hich it will be impossible to 
raise her again. 

" Captain WaUey, who had assumed command of the 
ship only three weeks ago, relieving Captain Cooke, who 
commanded her in the action of May last, began his duties 
in a very bombastic style. He mustered his officers and 
men, and assured them that in three weeks he would 
again attack the eaemy and sink and scatter his fleet, and 
then he would retake Newbern and drive the Yankees 
from every foot of ISTorth Carolina soil. With the Alhe- 
marle and their aid, with the cooperation of the gallant 
army, he would, before the new year, regenerate the 
State, and leave not a tra<;e of a Yankee within its 
borders. 

"It is not improbable that he -might have effected a 
good deal of damage, and perhaps have endangered for 
the time being our tenure at Newbern and Roanoke 
Island, as he was nearly ready for his raid. Thanks, 
however, to the gallant Cushing and his brave comrades, 
through whose coolness, courage, and skill the coup de 
main was so admirably administered to the mailed mon- 
ster, all danger has passed, and another destructive blow 
has been given to the declining rebel navy. 

"A meed of credit and praise should be awarded 
to Chief Engineer "Wm. W. "Wood, of the navy, to whoso 



24:0 LIFE OF JOHN" EKICSSON. 

inventive abilities and experience in submarine warfare 
we owe the contrivance of tlie torpedo and the successful 
arrangement by wliicb it is handled and exploded. The 
ens fired by Lieutenant Cushing contained but fifty pounds 
of powder ; but it did its vfork to a charm. There was 
no chance of its failing in his hands. The entire arrange- 
ment is exceedingly ingenious, and it would be manifestly 
improper to describe it at this time, 

" The Albemarle was an iron-cased vessel, similar in 
general features to the Merrimac and Tennessee, but much 
stronger. It is said that her iron mail was twelve inches 
in thickness, and backed by several feet of solid timber. 
She was armed with two tv/o-hundred pounder Brooke 
rifles, and was perfectly shot proof. Her weak point 
proved to be below. She could have been captured only 
by ramming, and for that purpose much heavier vessels 
were needed than any that could be got into the Sound. 
The torpedo was the only means of destroying her, and 
that proved successful when tried. 

"• The Albemarle is probably the last formidable vessel 
that the rebels have in the inland waters of North Caro- 
lina, and they will hardly have an opportunity of building 
more." 

The Secretary of the Navy wrote a letter to young 
Cashing, which ought to encourage all boys who have a 
noble ambition to be useful as patriotic citizens : 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON". 241 

"Navy Depaetjues-t, Washington, Nov. 9, 1864. 

** Sir : Your report of October SOth has been received, 
announcing the destruction of the rebel iron-clad steamer 
Albemarle^ on the night of the 27th ult., at Plymouth, 
N. C. 

*' Wlien last summer the Department selected you for 
this important and perilous undertaking, and sent you to 
Kear Admiral Gregory, at New York, to make the neces- 
sary preparations, it left the details with yourself to per- 
fect. To you and your brave comrades, therefore, belongs 
the esclusive credit which attaches to this daring achieve- 
ment. 

" The destruction of so foi-midable a vessel, which had 
resisted the combined attacks of a number of our steamers, 
is an important event touching our naval and military 
operations. The judgment as well as the daring courage 
displayed, would do honor to any officer, and redounds to 
the credit of one twenty-one years of age, 

" On previous occasions the Department has had the 
gratification of expressing its approbation of your con- 
duct in the face of the enemy, and in each instance there 
was manifested by you the same heroic daring and innate 
love of perilous adventure — a mind determined to succeed 
and not to be deterred by any apprehension of defeat. 

" Tlie Department has presented your name to the 
President for a vote of thanks, that you may be promoted 
one grade, and your comrades shall also receive recog-ni- 
11 



242 XIFE OF JOHK EEICSSOm 

tion. It gives me pleasure to recall the assurance jou 
gave me at the commencement of your professional career, 
that you vrouM prove yourself worthy of the service to 
which you were apiwinted. 

" I trust you may be pre?erved through further trials ; 
and it is for yourself to determine Avhether, after entering 
upon so auspicious a career, you shall, by careful study and 
self-discipline, be prepared for a wider sphere of useful- 
ness on the caU of jour country. Yery respectfully, 
" (Signed) Gideon Welles, 

'''■ Seeretar]} of the Nam^, 

"Lieut. W. B. Cbshing, U. S. ^^ Washington." 



CHAPTER XX. 

The Propeller in the Navy — The interesting variety of Names — The Pay of 
Officers and Men — The Stromboli — ^The new Cassabianca. 



^T will interest tlie reader to see what Captain Erics- 
son's propeller has done for the navy, apart from 
the decisive battles on the sea. I will give you a 
glimpse of the wonderftil change since the Princeton 
was launched in 1843. The names will furnish 
the reference, if you wish to know about any vessel no- 
ticed in the annals of the war. The list includes only 
screw steamers, of course. 

SCREW STEAMERS. 



Alleghany, - 


- J.0 guns. 


Antona, - - - 


5 guns. 


Anacostia, - 


- 4 " 


Arkansas, - - 


5 " 


Aroostook, - 


- 7 " 


Arapoho, - - 


8 " 


A. C. PoweU, 


- 1 " 


Aries, - - - 


7 " 


Albatross, - 


- 6 " 


Aug. Dinsmore, 


2 " 


Acacia, - - 


(( 


Brooklyn, - - 


24 " 


Alert, - - 


- 2 " 


Bermuda, - - 


3 « 


Ammonoosuc, 


(( 


Colorado, - - 


52 " 


Antietam, - 


- 20 « 


Canandaigua, - 


10 " 



244 



LIFE OF JOHN ESIC3S0N. 



Crusader, 


- 


- 


7g 


uns. 


Farallones, - - 


6 guns. 


Cambridge, 


- 


- 


10 


(( 


Fuchsia, - - - 


3 


:: i 


Chippewa, 


- 


- 


4 


u 


Galatasa, - - - 


14 


Chocura, - 


- 


- 


5 


u 


G-ertrude, - - 


8 




Ceres, 


- 


- 


4 


a 


Glaucus, - - - 


11 




Caynga, - 


- 


- 


7 


a 


Gov. Btickingham 


, 6 




Currituck, 


- 


- 


5 


u 


Grand Gulf, - - 


11 


" M 


Coliasset, 


- 


- 


2 


"' 


Guerriere, - - 


20 


" 1 


Calypso, - 


- 


- 


6 


u 


Hartford, - - 


27 


" 1 


Camellia, - 


- 


- 


— 


a 


Hunts ville, - - 


4 


1 


Carnation, 


- 


- 


2 


u 


Henry Br inker, - 


1 


" 1 


Chattanooga 


, 


- 


— 


u 


Hou-satonic, - - 


13 




Circassian, 


- 


- 


6 


u 


Pluron, - - - 


4 




Clover, - 


- 


- 


— 


u 


Hassala, - - - 


8 




Contoocook, 


- 


- 


8 


u 


Hendrick Hudson 


6 




Dacotah, - 


- 


- 


7 


(■i 


Home, - - - 


3 




Dav/n, 


- 


- 


5 


a 


Honeysuckle, 


— 




Daylight, - 


- 


- 


' 8 


a 


Howquah, - - 


4 




Dai-Ching, 


- 


- 


7 


u 


Hydrangia, - - 


— 




Dandelion, 


- 


- 


2 


u 


Iroquois, - - - 


8 




E. B. Hale, 


- 


- 


6 


u ■ 


Itasca, - - - 


4 




Emma, - 


- 


- 


7 


a 


Ida, ... - 


1 




Eureka, - 


- 


- 


— 


a 


Idaho, ... 


8 




Franklin, - 


- 


- 


50 


u 


Illinois, ... 


20 




Flambeau, 


- 


- 


5 


u 


Iris, .... 


— 




Flag, - - 


- 


- 


8 


a 


Iron Age, - . 


11 




Fahkee, - 


- 


- 


3 


u 


Juniata, - - - 


11 





LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 



245 



Jasmin, - - 


- 


2 guns. 


Monticello, - 


- 


7 guns 


Java, - - - 


- 


20 


a 


Mount Yernon 


~ 


4 " 


Jonquil, - - 


- 


— 


a 


Monongahela, 


- 


12 " 


Kearsarge, - 


- 


8 


(( 


Memphis, 


- 


7 " 


Kanawha, 


- 


4 


(( 


Maumee, - - 


- 


5 " 


Kennebec, - 


- 


5 


(C 


Madawaska, - 


- 


« 


Kineo, - - 


- 


6 


(( 


Manitto, - - 


- 


8 " 


Katahdin, - 


- 


7 


C( 


Marigold, 


- 


2 " 


Kansas, - - 


- 


5 


(( 


Mary Sanford, 


- 


3 « 


Keosauqua, - 


- 


8 


(( 


Mondamin, - 


- 


8 " 


Kewaydin 


- 


20 


u 


Monterey, 


- 


u 


Lancaster, - 


- 


30 


u 


Mosholu, - - 


- 


8 " 


Leslie, - - 


- 


2 


(( 


Niagara, - - 


- 


32 « 


Louisiana, - 


- 


5 


a 


Norwich, - - 


- 


6 " 


Lackawanna. 


- 


14 


" 


New London, 


- 


5 " 


Larkspur, 


- 


— 


a 


Narragansett, 


- 


6 " 


Lilac, - - - 


- 


2 


u 


Nipsic, - - 


- 


5 '• 


Lodona, - - 


- 


7 


C( 


Narcissus, - 


- 


u 


Lupin, - - 


- 


— 


a 


Neptune, - - 


- 


11 " 


Minnesota, - 


- 


20 


u 


Nereus, - - 


- 


11 " 


Mohawk, 


- 


8 


C( 


Neshaminy, - 


- 


(( 


Mohican, 


- 


7 


a 


Newbern, 


- 


6 " 


Mystic, - - 


- 


7 


a 


Niphon, - - 


- 


7 « 


Marblehead, - 


- 


6 


u 


Nyack, - - 


- 


5 » 


Massachusetts, 


- 


5 


u 


Oneida, - - 


- 


10 " 


Mercedita, - 


- 


9 


u 


Ossipee, - - 


- 


13 « 


Montgomery, 


- 


6 


a 


Ottawa, - - 


- 


5 '^ 



246 



LITE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 



Owasco, - - 


- 


4 guns. 


Seminole, 


- 


9 gimSf 


Ontario, - - 


- 


20 


(( 


Sciota, - - 


- 


3 


(( 


Pawnee, - - 


- 


10 


(( 


Seneca, - - 


- 


4 


a 


Pensacola, - 


- 


24 


u 


Sagamore, - 


- 


4 


(i 


Pocahontas, - 


- 


7 


a 


South Carolina 


) " 


8 


(( 


Princeton, - 


- 


— 


u 


Stars and Stripes, 


5 


u ■ 


Pembina, 


- 


4 


a 


Shenandoah, 


- 


10 


(( 


Penobscot, - 


- 


4 


(; 


Sacramento, - 


- 


10 


u 


Panola, - - 


- 


4 


(i 


Stettin, - - 


- 


5 


(-; 


Penguin, - - 


- 


6 


(C 


Saco, - - - 


- 


7 


(( 


Potomska, - 


- 


6 


(( 


Shawmut, - 


- 


5 


u 


Pequot, - - 


- 


11 


u 


Snowdrop, - 


- 


— 


(( 


Peterhojar, - 


- 


— 


u 


Sunflower, - 


- 


3 


ei 


Piscataqua, - 


- 


20 


a 


Sweet-Brier, 


- 


— 


u 


Pompanoosuc, 


- 


_- 


a 


Tuscarora, - 


- 


10 


u 


Poppy, - - 


- 


— 


u 


Tahoma, - - 


- 


6 


1 


Primrose, 


- 


2 


a 


Ticonderoga, 


- 


10 


u 


Princess Royal 


" 


7 


u 


Teaser, - - 


- 


1 


u 


Proteus, - - 


- 


11 


u 


Tahgayuta, - 


- 


8 


u 


Pushmataha, 


- 


8 


" 


UnadiUa, - - 


- 


7 


(( 


Queen, - - 


- 


4 


u 


Uncas, - - 


- 


5 


il 


Richmond, - 


- 


22 


(C 


Union, - - 


- 


1 


ii 


Resolute, - - 


- 


2 


(( 


Valley City, - 


- 


6 


a 


Rescue, - - 


- 


1 


u 


Victoria, - - 


- 


3 


il 


R. R. Cuyler, 


- 


12 


" 


Vicksburg, - 


- 


6 


a 


Rocket, - - 


- 


— 


u 


Violet, - - 


- 


2 


(C 


Sfto Jacinto, - 


- 


u 


il 


Virginia, - - 


- 


7 


u 1 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 



24r 



Wabash, - - 


- 


47 guns. 


Whitehead, - 


- 


4 guns. 


Wyandotte, - 




5 


(( 


Wampanoag, 


- 


8 " 


Wyoming, - 




7 


n 


Wanaloset, - 


- 


8 « 


Wachusett, - 




10 




Watauga, - 


- 


8 « 


Wissiihickon, 




5 




WiUamette, - 


- 


8 « 


Winona, - - 




4 




Yantic, - 


- 


5 " 


Wamsutta, - 




5 




Young Rover, 


- 


5 « 


Western World, 


5 




Zouave, - - 


- 


__ C( 






lEON-OLAD 


STEAMEES. 






Agamenticus, 


- 


4 guns. 


Essex, - - 


- 


7 guns. 


Atlanta, - - 


- 


4 




Eastport, - - 


- 


8 " 


Benton, - - 


- 


16 




Etlah, - - 


- 


2 « 


Cliilicothe, - 


- 


3 




Galena,, - - 


- 


7 « 


Chickasaw, - 


- 


2 




Kickapoo, 


- 


4 " 


CatskiU, - - 


- 


3 




Kalamazoo, - 


- 


4 " 


Camanche, - 


- 


2 




Klamath, - 


- 


2 " 


Cincinnati, - 


- 


13 




Kaka, - - 


- 


3 « 


Carondelet, - 


- 


13 




Louisville, - 


- 


13 " 


Canouicus, - 


- 


2 




Lexington, - 


- 


7 " 


Catawba, 


- 


2 




Lehigh, - - 


- 


2 ' 


Casko, - - 


- 


2 




Mound City, 


- 


13 " 


Chimo, - - 


- 


2 




Marietta, - - 


- 


2 « 


Choctaw, - - 


- 


8 




Milwaukee, - 


- 


4 " 


Cohoes, - - 


- 


2 




Montauk, 


- 


2 « 


Dictator, - - 


- 


2 




Manhattan, - 


- 


2 " 


punc^erberg, 


'. 


IQ 




Mahopac, r 


- 


^ '^ 



248 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOlSr, 



Manayunk - - 


2 guns. 


Sandusky, - - 


2 guns, J 


Monadnock, - - 


4 


" 


Sangamon, - - 


2 


u 


Miantonomoh, - 


4 


(( 


Saugus, - - - 


2 


u 


Modoc, - - - 


2 


a 


Shakamason, - 


4 


" 1 


Mohongo, - - 


— 


a 


Shamokin, - - 


— 


a ■', 


Muscoota, - - 


— 


a 


Shawnee, - - 


2 


(( 


Nantucket, - - 


2 


a 


Shiloh, - - - 


2 


(( 


Nahant, - - - 


2 


u 


Suncook, - - - 


2 


u 


Neosho, - - - 


2 


u 


Squando, - - - 


— 


ti 


New Ironsides, - 


20 


(( 


Suwanee, - - 


— 


(( 


Napa, - - - 


2 


(( 


Tuscumbia, - - 


5 


(I 


Naubuc, - - - 


2 


(( 


Tippecanoe, - - 


2 


J 


Nausett, - - - 


2 


a 


Tonawandah, - 


4 


" i 


Ozark, - - - 


2 


a 


Tecumseh, - - 


2 


" 1 


Osage, - - - 


2 


a 


Umpqua, - - - 


2 


" 1 


Onondaga, - - 


4 


a 


Winnebago, - - 


4 


u 


Oneoto, - - - 


2 


a 


Weehawken, 


2 


" • 1 


Patapsco, - - 


2 


(( 


"Wassuc, - - - 


2 


1 


Passaic, - - - 


2 


(( 


"Watauga, - - 


8 


u 


Puritan, - - - 


4 


u 


Wateree, - - - 


8 


u 


Pittsburg, - - 


12 


(( 


Waxsaw, - - - 


2 


u 


Passaconaway, - 


4 


u 


Winnipec, - - 


— 


(i 


Quinsigamond, - 


4 


a 


Yazoo, - - - 


2 


u 


Eoanoke, - - 


6 


a 


Yuma, - - - 


2 


a 



I shall let you reckon both the number of these ships 
and of the guns they carried. Since the catalogue was 
made, a few months since, changes have occurred, and 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON'. 249 

will contiime to take place by losses and additions. 
How curious is the variety of names ! The seceded 
States, the Indians, the ladies, each share in the honors 
of the navy, so far as this is concerned. Think of the 
work the quiet propeller which the British Admiralty re- 
jected, is doing for the Republic alone ! Has not the 
miner-boy "paid Ms way" in the "new world"? 

Some reader may inquire, " What does the Govern- 
ment pay the officers of the navy, who live so much of 
the. time on the sea?" The wagas given below, from 
those of the rear-admiral to the "boys," are taken from 
Mr. McKean's Annals of the Navy : 

Per annum. 
Reas Admirals (Active List). 

When at sea $5,000 

When on shore duty 4,000 

On leave or waiting orders 3,000 

On Retired List 2,000 

Commodores {Active List). 

When at sea 4,000 

When on shore duty 3,200 

On leave or waiting orders 2,400 

On Retired List 1,800 

Captains [Active List). 

When at sea 3,500 

When on shore duty. 2,800 

On leave or waiting orders 2,100 

On Retired List 1,600 

11* 



250 LIFE OF JOHK EKICS801S. 

CoMMAKDERS (Active List). Per annum. 

When at sea $2,800 

When on shore duty. 2,240 

On leave or waiting orders 1,680 

On Retired List 1,400 

Lieutenant Commanders {Active List). 

When at sea 2,343 

When on shore duty 1,875 

On leave or waiting orders 1,500 

On Jietired List 1,300 

Lieutenants {Active List) 

When at sea 1,875 

When on shore duty 1,500 

On leave or waiting orders 1,200 

On Eeiired List 1,000 

Masters {Active List). 

When at sea 1,500 

When on shore duty 1,200 

On leave or waiting orders 960 

On Hetired List 800 

Ensigns {Active List). 

When at sea 1,200 

When on shore duty 960 

On leave or waiting orders 768 

On Eeiired List 500 

Midshipmen 500 

Fleet Surgeons 3,300 

Burgeons — On duty at sea — 

For first five years after date of commission as surgeon. . . 2,200 

For second five years after date of commission as surgeon, 2,400 

For third five years after date of commission as surgeon. . 2,600 



LIPE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 251 

Per annum. 
For fourth five years after date of commission as surgeon,$2,800 
For twenty years and upwards after date of commission. . . 3,000 
On other duty — 

For first five years after date of commission as surgeon. . . 2,000 
For second five years after date of commission as surgeon, 2,200 
For third five years after date of commission as surgeon. . 2,400 
For fourth five years after date of commission as surgeon. . 2,600 
For twenty years and upwards after date of commission. . . 2,800 
On leave or waiting orders — 
For first five years after date of commission as surgeon. . . 1,600 
For second five years after date of commission as surgeon, 1,800 
For third five years after date of commission as surgeon. . 1,900 
For fourth five years after date of commission as surgeon. . 2,100 
For twenty years and upwards after date of commission. . 2,300 

Retired Sorgeons — 

Surgeons ranking with commanders 1,100 

Surgeons ranking with lieutenants 1,000 

Eetired Passed and Assistant Surgeons — 

Passed • 850 

Assistant 650 

Passed Assistant Surgeons — 

On duty at sea 1,500 

On other duty 1,400 

On leave or waiting orders 1,100 

Assistant Surgeons — 

On duty at sea. t 1,250 

On other duty 1,050 

On leave or waiting orders 800 

pATinsTERS — On duty at sea 

For first five years after date of commission 2,000 



252 LIFE OF JOHK ERICSSON. 

Per annum. 

For second five years after date of commission $2,400 

For third five years after date of commission 2,600 

For fourth five years after date of commission 2,900 

For twenty years and upwards after date of commission. . 3,10ft 
On other duty — 

For first five years after date of commission 1,800 

For second five years after date of commission 2,100 

For third five years after date of commission 2,400 

For foui'th five years after date of commission 2,600 

For twenty years and upwards after date of commission. . 2,800 
On leave or waiting orders — 

For first five years after date of commission 1,400 

For second five years after date of commission 1,600 

For third five years after date of commission 1,800 

For fourth five years after date of commission 2,000 

For twenty years and upwards after date of commission. . 2,250 

Paymasters Retired [Under acts of Aug. 3 and Dec. 21, 1861] — 

Ranking with captains 1,300 

Ranking with commanders 1,100 

Ranking with lieutenants 1,000 

ASSISTANT PATMASTsas — On duty at sea — 

First five years after date of commission 1,300 

After five years from date of commission 1,500 

On other duty — 

For first five years after date of commission 1,000 

After five years from date of commission 1,200 

On leave or waiting orders — 

First five years after date of commission 800 

After five years from date of commission 1,000 

Chaplains — To be paid as lieutenants. 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 253 



OF Mathematics — Per annum. 

On duty $1,800 

On leave or ivaiting orders 960 

IJoATSWAiN, Gunners, CARrENTERS, and Sailmakers — 
On duty at sea — 
For first three years' sea-service from date of appointment,* 1,000 
For second three years' sea-service from date of appoint- 
ment 1,150 

For third three years' sea-service from diite of appointment, 1,250 
For fourth three years' sea-service from date of appointment, 1,350 

For twelve years' sea-service and upwards 1,450 

On other duty — 
For first three years' sea-service after date of appointment, 800 
For second three years' sea-service after date of appoint- 
ment 900 

For third three years' sea-service after date of appointment, 1,000 
For fourth three years' sea-service after date of appointment, 1,100 

For twelve years' sea-service and upwards 1,200 

On leave or waiting orders — 

For first three years' sea-service after date of appointment, 600 
For second three years' sea-service after date of appoint- 
ment : 700 

For third three years' sea-service after date cf appointment, 800 
For fourth three years' sea-service after date of appointment, 900 

For twelve years' sea-service and upwards 1,000 

Ciiii'F Engineers — On duty — 

For first five years after date of commission 1,800 

For second five years after date of commission 2,200 

For third five yea,rs after date of commission 2,450 

After fifteen years from date of commission 2,600 

* Act of July 15, 1S63. 



254;. LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

On leave or waiting orders — P«' annum. 

For first five years after date of commission $1,200 

For second five years after date of commission 1,300 

For third five years after date of commission 1,400 

After fifteen years from date of commission 1,500 

First Assistant Engineers — 

On duty 1,250 

On leave or waiting orders 900 

Second Assistant Engineers — 

On duty 1,000 

On leave or waiting orders Y50 

Third Assistant Engineers — 

On duty 750 

On leave or waiting orders 600 

Navy Agents, commissions not to exceed 3,000 

Navy Agent at San Francisco 4,000 

Temporary Navy Agents 

Naval Storekeepers 

OflScers of the'navy on foreign stations 1,500 

Engineer-in-Chief. ; 3,000 

Naval Constructors 2,600 

Naval Constructors, when not on duty 1,800 

Secretaries to commanders of squadrons 1,500 

Clerks to commanders of squadrons and commanders of vessels, 500 

At navy-yards Boston and New York 1,200 

At navy-yard Washington 1,200 

At navy-yards Portsmouth, N. H., and Philadelphia 1,200 

At navy-yard Mare Island 1,500 

First Clerks to commandants — 

At Boston and New York 1,200 

At Washington 1,200 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICS80N". 255 

Per annum. 

At Portsmouth and Philadelphia $1, 200 

At Mare Island 1,500 

Second Clerks to commandants — 

At Boston, New York, and Washington 960 

Clerks — 

To paymasters in ships-of-the-line '700 

To paymasters in frigates 500 

To paymasters in smaller vessels than a frigate 400 

To paymasters at navy-yards 500 

Yeomen— Per month, 

In ships-of-the-line $45 00 

In frigates 40 00 

In sloops 30 GO 

In smaller vessels 24 00 

ASMOEEES 

In ships-of-the-line 30 00 

In frigates 25 00 

In sloops 20 00 

Mates — 

Master's (acting) 40 00 

Boatswain's 25 00 

Gunner's 25 00 

Carpenter's 25 00 

Sailraaker's 20 00 

Armorer's 20 00 

MAdlER-AT-ASMS 25 00 

Ship's Cokpoeals 20 00 

Coxswains 24 00 

Quartermasters. 24 00 

Quarter-Gunners 20 00 



238 i-iFE o'F jon:T eeicsson. 

Captains — Per montk 

Of forecastle $24 00 

Of tops; afterguard, and hold, each 20 00 

Coopers 20 00 

Painters 20 00 

Btewakds — 

Ship's 30 00 

Officers' 20 00 

Surgeons, where ship's complement is 400 and over 40 00 

Surgeons where ship's complement is 200 and under 400, 33 00 

Surgeons, where ship's complement is under 200 25 00 

Paymasters, where complement is 240 and over 33 00 

Assistant paymasters, where complement is 100 and over, S3 00 

Assistant paymasters, where complement is under 100. . . 30 00 
Nurses — 

Where complement is less than 200, one nurse 14 00 

Where complement is over 200, two nurses, each 14 00 

Cooss — 

Ship's 24 00 

Officer's 20 00 

Masters op the Band 20 00 

Musicians — 

First class 15 00 

Second class 12 00 

Seamen 18 00 

Okdinary Seamen 14 00 

LANDSilEN. 12 00 

Boys 8 00 and 9 00 

FlXElIEN 

First class 30 00 

Second class 25 00 

Coal-Heateks 18 00 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 257 

You will be interested in a new form of a propeller 
vessel, in the first voyage of wliicli a brave boy is no 
mean actor. The story is told by one of the few permit- 
ted to see and know all about it : 

" On November 25, 1864, the Stromholi made an ex- 
perimental trial trip to thoroughly test all of her machinery, 
and on Saturday she took her departure from these waters 
for the purpose of making her dehut upon the stage of 
active operations, and, we may be permitted to say, to 
fuUy demonstrate the power, efficiency, and destructive- 
ness of the new system of naval warfare. Before we 
proceed to describe the trial trip, let us first give a brief 
outline of the liistory of the vessel, and even go back to 
the inception of the idea. 

*' Several years ago, William W. W. Wood, the pres- 
ent Senior Chief Engineer to the United States Navy, 
conceived the idea of using the sub-marine torpedo in a 
manner not formerly experimented upon or knovim. As 
time passed, the simplicity and perfect working of his 
plans became so patent that he felt satisfied in his mind 
that it would perform the work required beyond a doubt. 
Less than two years ago, the subject was casually brought 
to the notice of Admiral Gregory, who immediately urged 
upon the Navy Department the appointment of a Board 
of Examiners to inqtiire into the merits of the invention, 
and report upon the same. This Board, composed of 
Bome of the most practical officers in the service, gave the 



258 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

subject a very careful examination, and unanimously re« 
ported in its favor, recommending tlie construction of a 
vessel to fully demonstrate the idea. The Navy Depart- 
ment, alive to the great importance of the system, immedi- 
ately ordered the construction of what is now the StromboU. 
" First Assistant Engineer John L. Lacy, a young 
officer who had also been investigating the subject of tor- 
pedo warfare, was selected to superintend the construction 
of the vessel and her machinery. As it was necessary to 
keep the matter quiet and beyond the inquisitive eyes of 
traitors and foreign emissaries, the hull was built at Fair 
Haven, Connecticut, the engines at Mystic, Conn., and 
the torpedo machinery at Schenectady, N. Y. Mr. 
Samuel H. Pook, a young and skilful naval architect, 
was selected to build the hull, the ReKance Machine Com- 
pany the propelling engines, and Cute Brothers the tor- 
pedo machinery, and Benjamin and Root the torpedo 
engine, and in this way the work was distributed so that 
it was not easy for the inquisitive to put all the parts to- 
gether and be much the wiser. After she was launched 
she was towed to Mystic, and there received her boiler and 
engines ; from thence she came over to Messrs. Secor's 
yard at Jersey City, where she received her deck plating, 
pHot-house, and her final completion. Such is the brief 
history of the inception and production of the first torpedo 
boat of the United States Navy, designed, built, and saUed 
by native-born citizens. 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 259 

" The First ExpEPaMENXAL Tkial Trip. — On Fri- 
day, the 25tli instant, tlie little StromhoU made her experi- 
mental trial trip to test her propulsive and torpedo engines. 
Slie left the wharf at the Secor yard about 11 o'clock, A. M., 
and under the pilotage of Captain John McGinn, pro- 
ceeded up the Hudson River some distance, making an 
average speed of nine knots per hour, and steering beau- 
tifully from on top of the pilot-house as well as from 
below decks. After some tests of the propulsive machinery, 
it was decided to fire a ' Wood torpedo,' of the same pat- 
tern as was furnished to, and used with such success by 
Lieutenant Gushing in the destruction of the rebel ram 
Albemarle. 

" Test of the Fiftt-pounder Torpedo. — This tor- 
pedo was charged with only forty-eight pounds of powder, 
and was placed in the basket, run out, detached, and 
when at a given point, about one foot below the siirface 
of the water, it was exploded, less than two a half min- 
utes being consumed in the whole operation. The explo- 
sion and the peculiar appearance of the colirmn of water 
thrcwn up by the torpedo can be but illy described with a 
pen ; instantaneous photography might have done it, but 
no painter could have depicted the scene with justice. 
The water was thrown up about one hundred and eighty 
feet in a perpendicular column, which measured about ten 
feet in diameter. 

" Branching olF from the main column were thick 



260 LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 

jets of heavy spray, or rather broad sheets of showy white 
water, which the breeze bore back upon the deck of the 
vessel. Around this huge column of water, and mingling 
with the jets, the whitish fantastic clouds of powder smoke 
circled, making a beautiful picture, ever changing and 
passing away in a brief space of time. The torpedo when 
exploded was only fifteen feet distant from the bow of the 
vessel, and the shock as felt on board was very slight in- 
deed. Every one was charmed with the experiment. 

" Trial of the Sixty-Founder Torpedo. — It was 
now decided to try a torpedo placed twenty feet below the 
surface of the water, and about the same distance from 
the bow of the vessel ; this torpedo contained sixty pounds 
of powder, and was placed in position as in the former 
experiment, but was exploded by Beardsley's magnetic 
electro-machines, a beautiful specimen of art. The ex- 
plosion at this time produced different results and still 
more interesting. The water was thirty feet deep, and 
the torpedo at the instant of explosion was ten feet from 
the bed of the river, consequently it was a trifle longer 
before the tremendous result made itself manifest. "When 
it did come it was awfully grand, a black cone surmount- 
ing a blacker column arose from the surface and quickly 
mounted aloft, at least three score feet, being twenty feet 
in diameter and thick with mud. The muddy jets did not 
leave the column quite as soon as in the former experi- 
ment, but the white smoke curling around the dark centre 



LIFE OF JOIIIST EEICSSON. 261 

column made a picture novel, and at the same time one 
which a reflecting mind could not fail to be awed with. 

" It presented an unmistakable evidence of the power 
which the machine possessed for harm, and which at times 
lying dormant could be roused in an incalculable space 
6f time, and lot loose for destruction of life and property. 
The shock of this torpedo was felt over a space about 
one liundred and fifty yards in diameter ; it lifted, or felt 
as if it did, the bow of the vessel about nine inches, but 
produced no unpleasant sensation. Space prevents us 
from going into the details of the sensation experienced 
while witnessing these experiments. We are satisfied 
that this vessel, for destructive purposes, has no equal in 
the world. No iron-clad can withstand its power. It is 
perfectly safe to operate in, and the nearer she approaches 
an enemy the safer she becomes, while every foot nearer 
she approaches her victim, only hastens the time of her 
certain destruction. The experiments being over the 
StromhoK and her consort. Picket Boat No. 6, steamed 
back to their stations. 

" Departure of the ' Stkomboli.' — Saturday, 26th 
November, was the time announced for her departure, 
and by two o'clock every thing was in readiness save a 
few trifling details. The crew was selected from on 
board of the Vermont, and so great was the desire to go 
in her manifested, that ' all hands and the cook ' volun- 
teered, and earnestly entreated to be allowed to serve in 



262 LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSOF. 

the torpedo boat. Seven men were selected, and witL 
bag and hammock were soon on board of picket boat No. 
6, in charge of Engineer G-riffin, and en route for Jersey 
City. On arriving the crew were transferred to the 
StromhoU, and a prouder list of fellows could not be found 
for miles around. More than one volunteer presented 
himself at the dock, beiug anxious to go in her. One 
young lad, named Edwin Booth, pressed so hard that he 
was permitted to go. The joy and happiness depicted on 
the face of this lad when he received permission was of a 
character seldom seen. We shall hear of that boy one of 
these days. 

"' As the public (designedly) had not been notified of 
the time or place of departure, only a few persons were 
present. Among those on board we noticed Captain 
Boggs, Chief Engineer "Wood, W. H. Webb, Engineer 
HaU, Donald McKay and Mr. Winters, of Boston ; all 
the Messrs. Secor, Captain Woolsey, Mr. Birkbeck, Mr. 
Dunham, and perhaps half a dozen others. 

" At half-past three o'clock the vessel was put in com- 
mission by the commanding officer, with the following list 
of officers and crew : — First Assistant Engineer, John L. 
Lay, commanding ; Second Assistant Engineers, Charles 
H. Stone, J. B. Chadwick, John Smith ; Third Assistant 
Engineer, Byron S. Heath ; Quartermaster, Benjamin 
Baker ; Seaman, John Bristol ; First-class Firemen, Wil- 
liam Bane, W. Lowry ; Second-class Fireman, William 



LITE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 263 

Muller ; Coal lieavers, D. Coleman, D. Jolinson ; Lands- 
men, J. Thomas (colored), Edwin Booth, volunteer. 

" About this time picket boat No. 6 took her departure 
for the canal. She would await the arrival of the Strom- 
boli at New Brunswick. At about four o'clock the 
StromhoU, convoyed by the tug John T. Jenkins^ took 
their departure, amid the cheers of the little crowd of 
spectators. They entered the canal about dark, and ar- 
rived at New Brunswick on Sunday, en route for Hampton 
Roads." 

Here is the story of a " new Cassabianca" — a boy too 
young to know much about the real cause of the fearful 
war. The scene occurred on board the " Harriet Lane," 
at Galveston, Texas : 

" Almost the first men struck down were the gallant 
Captain Wainwright and Lieutenant Lee, who both fought, 
says an eye-witness, with a desperation and valor that no 
mortal could surpass. He saw them bleeding and pros- 
trate upon the deck, still dealing death among their ene- 
mies. One young son of Captain "Wainwright— only ten 
years old^ just think of it ! — stood at the cabin door, a 
revolver in each hand, and never ceased firing until he 
had expended every shot. One of his poor little hands 
was disabled by a ball, shattering his four fingers, and 
then his infantile soul ga,ve way ; he burst into tears, and 
cried : ' Do you want to kill me?' Darling young hero 
—may his country never forget him I Where is the 



264 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSOH". 

Hemans to wed his name to immortal verse, like another 
Cassabianca ? Philanthropists, whose hearts are yearning 
for something to love, here is a noble orphan boy on 
whom to lavish your care." 






CHAPTER XXI. 



Out Knowledge of the Sea— Curious Traditions— The " "World of Waters"— 
Eobert Fulton and John Ericsson— The Future— Great Battles— Tho 
Mother's Lament. 



nAPTAES" ERICSSON'S life is so associated with' 
the ocean, and likely to be identified with all 
progress there, that a glance at the shadowy 
past wiU give interest to the present and future 
history of the " wide, wide sea." And as you 
read you wiU ask yourself, what would those credulous 
ancients have thought to see the " Flying Devil," a Caloric 
Engine, or even a locomotive in motion. Forcibly writes 
one who has wielded his pen for the entertainment of 
boys : * 

" In early times, in the scriptural and classic periods, 
;he great oceans were unknown. Mankind — at least that 
portion whose history has descended to us — dwelt upon 
the borders of an inland, mediterranean sea. They had 

* F. B. Goodrich. 
12 



260 LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 

never teard of sucli an expanse of water as the Atlantic, 
and certainly had never seen it. The land-locked sheet 
■which lay spread out at their feet was at all times full of 
mystery, and often even of dread and secret misgiving. 
Those who ventured forth upon its bosom came home and 
told marvellous tales of the sights they had seen and the 
perils they had endured. Homer's heroes returned to 
Ithaca with the music of the sirens in their ears and the 
cruelties of the giants upon their lips. The Argonauts 
saw whirling rocks implanted in the sea, to warn and 
repel the approaching navigator ; and, as if the mystery 
of the waters had tinged with fable even the dry land be- 
yond it, they filled the Caucasus with wild stories of en- 
chantresses, of bulls that breathed fire, and of a race of . 
men that sprang, like a ripened harvest, from the prolific 
soil. If the ancients vrere ignorant of the shape of the 
earth, it was for the very reason that they were ignorant 
of the ocean. Their geographers and philosophers, whose 
observations were confined to fragments of Europe, Asia, 
and Africa, alternately made the world a cylinder, a flat 
surface begirt by water, a drum, a boat, a disk. The 
legends that sprang from these confused and contradictory 
notions made the land a scene of marvels and the water 
an abode of terrors. 

" At a later period, when, with the progress of time, 
the love of adventure or the needs of commerce had drawn 
the navigator from the Mediterranean through the PiUars 



LIFE OF JOHX ERICSSON. 267 

of Hercules into the Atlantic, and when some conception 
of the immensitj of the waters had forced itself upon 
minds dwarfed by the contracted limits of the inland sea, 
then the ocean became in good earnest a receptacle of 
gloomy and appalling horrors, and the marvels narrated 
by those fortunate enough to return told how deeply the 
imagination had been stirred by the new scenes opened to 
their vision. Pytheas, who coasted from Marseilles to 
the Shetland Isles, and who there obtained a glance at 
the bleak and wintry desolation of the North Sea, declared, 
on reaching home, that his further progress was barred 
by an immeuse black moUusk, which hung suspended in 
the air, and in which a ship would be inextricably in- 
volved, and where no man could breathe. The menaces 
of the South were even more appalling than the perils of 
the North ; for he who should venture, it was said, across 
the equator into the regions of the Sun, would be changed 
into a negro for his rashness : besides, in the popular be- 
lief, the waters there were not navigable. Upon the 
quaint charts of the Middle Ages, a giant located upon 
the Canary Islands forbade all further venture westward, 
by brandishing his formidable club in the path of all ves- 
sels coming from the east. Upon these singular maps 
the concealed and treacherous horrors of the deep were 
disjdayed in the grotesque shapes of sea-monsters and dis- 
torted water unicorns, which were represented as career- 
ing through space and waylaying the navigator. Even 



liOO LIFE OF JOHN EKIGSSON. 

in the time of Columbus, and when the introduction of the 
compass into European ships should have somewhat di 
minished the fantastic terrors of the sea, we find that the 
Arabians, the best geographers of the time, represented the 
bony and gnarled hand of Satan as rising from the waves 
of the Sea of Darkness — as the Atlantic was then called — 
ready to seize and engulf the presumptuous mariner. 
The sailors of Columbus, on reaching the Sargasso Sea, 
where the collected weeds offered an impediment to their 
progress, thought they had arrived at the limit of naviga- 
tion and the end of the world. Five years later the crew 
of da Gama, on doubling the Cape of Good Hope, im- 
agined they saw, in the threatening clouds that gathered 
about Table Rock, the form of a spectre waving off their 
vessel and crying woe to all who should thus invade his 
dread dominion. 

"And now Columbus had discovered the "Western 
Continent, da Gama had found an ocean route to the 
Indies, and Magellan, saihng aroimd the world, had 
proved its spericity, and approached the Spice Islands 
from the east. For centuries, now, the two great oceans 
were the scenes of grand and useful maritime expeditions. 
The tropical islands of the Pacific arose, one by one, from 
the bosom of the sea, to reward the navigator or relieve 
the outcast. The Spanish, by dint of cruelty and rapacity, 
filled their famous Manilla gaUeons and Acapulco treasure- 
ships with the spoils of warfare and the legitimate fruits 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 269 

of trade. The English, seeking to annoy a nation with 
Avliom, though not at war, they were certainly not at 
peace, sent against their golden fleets the piratical squad- 
rons of Anson, Drake, and Hawkins. For years prop- 
erty was not safe upon the sea, and trading-ships went 
armed, while the armed vessels of nations turned buc- 
caneers. The Portuguese and Dutch colonized the coasts 
and islands of India, Spain sent Cortez and Pizarro to 
Mexico and Peru, and England drove the Puritans across 
a stormy sea to Plymoiith. Commerce was spread over 
the world, and Civilization and Christianity were intro- 
duced into the desert and the wilderness. 

" If the distances be considered, the sea is the safest 
and most commodious route from spot to spot, whether 
for merchandise or man. It has given up its secrets, with 
perhaps the single exception of its depth, and, like the 
lightning and the thunderbolt, has submitted to the yoke. 
Though still sublime in its immensity and its power, it 
has lost those features of ch"aracter which once made it 
mysterious and fantastic, and has become the sober and 
humdrum pathw^aj^ of traffic. Mail-routes are as dis- 
tinctly marked upon its surface as the equator, or the 
meridian of Greenwich : steamships leave their docks 
punctually at the stroke of noon. The monsters that 
plough its waters have been hunted by man till the race 
is well-nigh exhausted ; for the leviathan which frightened 
the ancients is the whale which has illuminated the mod- 



270 LIFE OF JOHN" ERICSSON. 

eras. The chant of the sirens is hushed, and in its place 
are heard the clatter of rushing paddle-wheels, the fog- 
whiatle on the banks, the song of the forecastle, the yo-ho 
of sailors toiling at the ropes, the salute in mid-ocean— 
sometimes, alas ! the minute-gun at sea. The romance 
and fable that once had here their chosen home, have fled 
to the caves and taken refuge amid the grottos ; and the 
legends that were lately told of the ocean would now be 
out of place even in a graveyard or a haunted house. 

" The sailor, to whom once the route was trackless 
and untrodden, now consults a volume of charts which he 
has obtained from the National Observatory, and finds his 
course laid out upon data derived from analogy and oft- 
repeated experience. He takes this or that direction in 
accordance with known facts of the prevalence of winds 
or the motion of currents. He keeps a record of his own 
experience, that in its turn it may be useful to others. 
He has plans and surveys which give him the bearings of 
every port, the indentations of every coast, the soundings 
of every pass. Beacons warn him of reefs and sunken 
rocks, and buoys mark out his course through the shallows 
of sounds and straits. A modern light-house costs a mil- 
lion dollars, and a breakwater involves the finances of a 
state. If a new light-house is erected, or is the warning 
lamp for any reason discontinued, upon any coast, the fact 
is made known to the commerce of all nations by a ' Notice 
to Mariners,' inserted in the marine department of the 



LIFE OF JOHN EBICSSOIT. 271 

newspapers most likely to meet their eye. A vessel at 
sea is safer from spoliation than is the traveller upon the 
high road or the sojourner in a city ; for there are robbers 
and depredators every~\vliere upon the land, while there is 
not a pirate on the ocean. There are well-laden treasure 
ships in the Panama and California waters, as in the times 
of Drake and Anson ; but the world is much older than it 
was, and buccaneers and filibusters now only infest the 
land. 

"In short, the ocean, once a formidable and repellant 
element, now furnishes Christian food and healthful em- 
ployment to millions. Instead of serving to affright and 
appall the. dwellers upon the continents which it sur- 
rounds, it renders their atmosphere more respirable, it 
afibrds them safe conveyance, and raises for them a school 
of heroes." 

We add a fine passage from Dr. Greenwood's " Poetry 
and Mystery of the Sea," on Old Ocean : 

" ' The sea is his, and He made it,' cries the Psalmist 
of Israel, in one of those bursts of enthusiasm in which he 
so often expresses the whole of a vast subject by a few 
simple words. Whose else, indeed, could it be, and by 
whom else could it have been made? Who else can 
heave its tides and appoint its bounds? Who else can 
urge its mighty waves to madness with the breath and 
wings of the tempest, and then speak to it again in a 
master's accents and bid it be still ? Who else could have 



272 LH^E OF JOHN EEIOSSOH. 

peopled it with its countless inhabitants, and caused il. to 
bring forth its various productions, and filled it from its 
deepest bed to its expanded surface, filled it from its centre 
to its remotest shoi-es, filled it to the brim with beautj 
and mystery and power? Majestic Ocean! Glorious 
Sea ! No created being rules thee or made thee. 

"What is there more sublime than the trackless, 
desert, all-surrounding, unfathomable sea ? What is there 
more peacefully sublime than the calm, gently-heaving, 
silent sea ? What is there more terribly sublime than the 
angry, dashing, foaming sea? Power — resistless, over- 
whelming power — is its attribute and its expression, 
whether in the careless, conscious grandeur of its deep 
rest, or the wild tumult of its excited wrath. It is awful 
when its crested Avaves rise up to make a compact with 
the black clouds and the howling winds, and the thunder 
and the thunderbolt, and they sweep on, in the joy of their 
dread alliance, to do the Almighty's bidding. And it is 
awful, too, when it stretches its broad level out to meet 
in quiet union the bended sky, and show in the line of 
meeting the vast rotundity of the world. There is majesty 
in its wide expanse, separating and enclosing the groat 
continents of the earth, occupying two-thirds of the whole 
surface of the globe, penetrating the land Avith its bays 
and secondary seas, and receiving the constantly-pouring 
tribute of every river, of every shore. There is majesty 
m its fulness, never diminishing and never increasing. 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOF. 2Y3 

Its depth is sublime : who can sound it ? Its strength ia 
subKme : what fabric of man can resist it ? Its voice is 
sublime, whether in the prolonged song of its ripple or the 
stern music of its roar — ^whether it utters its hollow and 
melancholy tones within a labyrinth of wave-worn caves, 
or thunders at the base of some huge promontory, or beats 
against a toiling vessel's sides, lulling the voyager to rest 
with the strains of its wild monotony, or dies away, with 
the calm and fading twilight, in gentle murmurs on some 
sheltered shore. 

" The sea possesses beauty, in richness, of its own ; it 
borrows it from earth, and air, and heaven. The clouds 
lend it the various dyes of their wardrobe, and throw 
down upon it the broad masses of their shadows as they 
go sailing and sweeping by. The rainbow laves in it its 
many-colored feet. The sun loves to visit it, and the 
moon and the glittering brotherhood of planets and stars, 
for they delight themselves in its beauty. The sunbeams 
return from it in showers of diamonds and glances of fire ; 
the moonbeams find in it a pathway of silver, where they 
dance to and fro, with the breezes and the waves, through 
the livelong night. It has a light, too, of its own — a soft 
and sparkling light, rivalling the stars ; and often does the 
ship which cuts its surface leave streaming behind a Milky 
Way of dim and uncertain lustre, like that which is shin- 
ing dimly above. It harmonizes in its forms and sounds 
both with the night and the day. It cheerfully reflects 
-12* 



274 LIFE OF JOHN ESICSSON. 

the light, and it unites soieinnly with the darkness. It 
imparts sweetness to the music of men. and grandeur to 
ide thunder of heaven. V/hat landscape is so beautiful as 
one upon the borders of the sea ? The spirit of its love- 
liness is from the waters where it dwells and rests, sing- 
ing its spells and scattering its charms on all the coasts. 
What rocks and cliffs are so glorious as those which are 
washed by the chafing sea ? What groves and fields and 
dwellings are so enchanting as those which stand by the 
reflecting sea ? 

" If we could see the great ocean as it can be seen by 
no mortal eye, beholding at one view what we are now 
obliged to visit in detail and spot by spot — if we could, frona 
a flight far higher than the eagle's, view the immense sur- 
face of the deep all spread out beneath us like a universal 
chart — what an infinite variety such a scene would dis- 
play ! Here a storm would be raging, the thunder burst- 
ing, the waters boiling, and rain and foam and fire all 
mingling together ; and here, next to this scene of magni- 
ficent confusion, we should see the bright blue waves 
glittering in the sun and clapping their hands for \eTj 
gladness. Here we should see a cluster of green islands 
set like jewels in the bosom of the sea ; and there we 
should see broad shoals and gray rocks, fretting the bil- 
lows and threatening the mariner. Here we should dis- 
cern a ship propelled by the steady wind of the tropics, 
and inhaling the almost visible odors which diffuse them- 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSOK. 275 



around the Spice Islands of the East ; there we 
should behold a vessel piercing the cold barrier of the 
North, struggling among hills and fields of ice, and con- 
tending with winter in his own everlasting dominion. 
Nor are the ships of man the only travellers we shall per- 
ceive upon this mighty map of the ocean. Flocks of sea- 
birds are passing and repassing, diving for their food or 
for pastime, migrating from shore to shore with unwearied 
wing and undeviating instinct, or wheeling and swarming 
around the rocks which they make alive and vocal by 
their numbers and their clanging cries. 

" We shall behold new wonders and riches when we 
investigate the sea-shore. We shall find both beauty for 
the eye and food for the body, in the varieties of shell- 
fish which adhere in myriads to the rocks or form their 
close dark burrows in the sands. In some parts of the 
world we shall see those houses of stone which the little 
coral-insect rears up with patient industry from the bot- 
tom of the waters, till they grow into formidable rocks 
and broad forests whose branches never wave and whose 
leaves never fall. In other parts we shall see those pale, 
glistening pearls which adorn the crowns of princes and 
are woven in the hair of beauty, extorted by the relent- 
less grasp of man from the hidden stores of ocean. And 
spread round every coast there are beds of flowers and 
thickets of plants, which the dew does not nourish, and 
which man has not sown, nor cultivated, nor reaped, but 



276 LIFE OF JOHN- ESICSSON. 

"whicli seem to belong to tlie floods alone and the denizens 
of the floods, until they are thrown up by the surges, and 
we discover that even the dead spoils of the fields of ocean 
may fertilize and enrich the fields of earth. They have a 
life, and a nourishment, and an economy of their own ; 
and we know little of them, except that they are there, iu 
their briny nurseries, reared up into luxuriance by what 
would kill, like a mortal poison, the vegetation of the 
land. 

" There is mystery in the sea. There is mystery in 
its depths. It is unfathomed, and, perhaps, unfathomable. 
Who can tell, who shall know, how near its pits run down 
to the central core of the world? "Who can tell what 
wells, what fountains, are there, to which the fountains 
of the earth are but drops ? Who shall say whence the 
ocean derives those inexhaustible supplies of salt which so 
impregnate its waters that all the rivers of the earth, 
pouring into it from the time of the creation, have not 
been able to freshen them ? What undescribed monsters, 
what unimaginable shapes, may be roving in the pro- 
foundest places of the sea, never seeking — and perhaps, 
from their nature, never able to seek — the upper waters 
and expose themselves to the gaze of man ! What glit- 
tering riches, what heaps of gold, what stores of gems, 
there must be scattered in lavish profusion in the ocean's 
lowest bed ! What spoils from all climates, what works 
of art from all lands, have been engulfed by the insatiable 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSOlSr. 271 

and reckless waves ! Who shall go down to exanaine 
and reclaim this uncounted and idle wealth ? Wlio bears 
the keys of the deep ? 

" And oh ! yet more affecting to the heart and mys- 
terious to the mind, what companies of human beings are 
locked up in that wide, weltering, unsearchable grave of 
the sea ! Where are the bodies of those lost ones over 
whom the melancholy waves alone have been chanting 
requiem ? What shrouds were wrapped round the limbs 
of beauty, and of manhood, and of placid infancy, when 
they were laid on the dark floor of that secret tomb? 
Where are the bones, the relics, of the brave and the 
timid, the good and the bad, the parent, the child, the 
wife, the husband, the brother, the sister, the lover, which 
have been tossed and scattered and buried by the washing, 
wasting, wandering sea ? The journeying winds may sigh 
as year after year they pass over their beds. The solitary 
rain-cloud may weep in darkness over the mingled remains 
which lie strewed in that unwonted cemetery. But who 
shall tell the bereaved to what spot their affections may 
cling ? And Avhere shall human tears be shed throughout 
that solemn sepulchre ? It is mystery all. Wlien shall 
it be resolved ? Who shall find it out ? Who but lie to 
whom the v/ildest waves listen reverently, and to whom 
all nature bows ; He who shaU one day speak, and be 
heard in ocean's profoundest caves ; to whom the deep 
even the lowest deep, shall give up its dead, when the sun 



278 ■ LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

shall sicken, and the earth and the isles shall languish, 
, and the heavens be rolled together like a scroll, and there 
shall be. NO mobe sea." 

Who invented and first used ships ? " you ask. 
This question will never be answered. Men found 
means of crossing rivers and inland seas before the his- 
torian recorded the attempts at navigation. Indeed, it is 
probable that the earliest annals of life upon the seas, were 
lost in the revolutions and faU of empires. " Imagination 
has suggested that the nautilus, or Portuguese man-of-war, 
raising its tiny sail and floating off before the breeze, first 
pointed out to man the use which might be made of the 
wind as a propelling force ; that a split reed, following 
the curi'ent of some tranquil stream and transporting a 
beetle over its glassy surface, was the first canoe, while 
the beetle was the first sailor. Mythology represents 
Hercules as sailing in a boat formed of the hide of a lion, 
and translates ships to the skies, where they still figure 
among the constellations. Fable makes Atlas claim the 
invention of the oar, and gives to Tipliys, the pilot of the 
Argo, tlie invention of the rudder. The attributing of 
these discoveries and improvements to particular indi- 
viduals doubtless afforded pastime to poets in ages when 
poetry was more popular than history. Instead of trust- 
ing to these fanciful authorities, we may form a very 
rational theory upon the matter in the following m.anner : 
" Whether it was an insect that floated ob a leaf across 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON, 279 

a TiTulet and was stranded on the bank, or a beaver carried 
down a river upon a log, or a bear borne away upon an 
iceberg, that first awakened man to the conception of 
trusting himself fearlessly upon the water, it is highly 
probable that he learned from animals, whose natural 
element it is, the manner of supporting his body upon it 
and of forcing his way through it. A frog darting away 
from the rim of a pond and striking out with his fore-legs 
may have suggested swimming, and the beaver floating 
on a log may have suggested following his example. The 
log may not have been sufficiently buoyant, and the ad- 
venturer may have added to its buoyancy by using his 
arms and legs. Even to this day the Indians of our own 
country cross a rapid stream hj clasping the trunk of a 
tree with the left leg and arm and propelling themselves 
with the right. Thus the first step was taken ; and the 
second v.'as either to place several logs together, thus 
forming a raft, and raising its sides, or to make use of a 
tree hollowed out by nature. Many trees grow hollow 
naturally, such as oaks, limes, beeches, and willows ; and 
it would not require a degree of adaptation beyond the 
capacity of a savage, to fit them to float and move upon 
the water. The nest step v/as probably to hollow out by 
art a sound log, thus imitating the trunk which had been 
eroded by time and decay. And, in making this step 
from the sound to the hollow log, the primitive mariners 
may have been assisted by observing how an empty nutr- 



280 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOK. 

shell or an inverted tortoise-shell floated upon the water, 
preserving their inner surface dry and protecting such 
objects as their size enabled them to carry. It has been 
aptly remarked that this first step was the greatest of aU — 
' for the transition from the hoUow tree to the ship-of-the- 
line is not so difficult as the transition from nonentity to 
the hollow tree.' 

" The first object for obtaining motion upon the water 
must evidently have been to enable the navigator to cross 
a river — ^not to ascend or descend it ; as it is apparent he 
would not seek the means of following or stemming its 
current while the same purpose could be more easily 
served by walking along the shore. It is not difficult to 
suppose that the oar was suggested by the legs of a frog 
or the fins of a fish. The early navigator, seated in his 
hollow tree, might at first seek to propel himself with his 
hands, and might then artificially lengthen them by a 
piece of wood fashioned in imitation of the hand and arm 
— a long pole terminating in a thin flat blade. Here was 
the origin of the modern row-boat, one of the most grace- 
full inventions of man. 

" From the oar to the rudder the transition was easy, 
for the oar is in itself a rudder, and was for a long time used 
as one. It must have been observed at an early dffy that 
a canoe in motion was diverted from its direct course by 
plunging an oar into the water and suffering it to remain 
there. It must have been observed, too, that an oar in or 



I,IFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 281 

toward the stern was more effective in gi^'ing a neAV di- 
rection to the canoe than an oar in any other place. It 
was a natural suggestion of prudence, then, to assign this 
duty to one particular oarsman, and to place him alto- 
gether at the stern. 

" The sail is not so easily accotmted for. An ancient 
tradition relates that a fisherman and his sweetheart, al- 
lured from the shore in the hope of discovering an island, 
and surprised by a tempest, were in imminent danger of 
destruction. Their only oar was wrenched from the grasp 
of the fisherman, and the frail bark was thus left to the 
mercy of the waves. The maiden raised her white veil 
to protect herself and her lover from the storm ; the wind, 
inflating this fragile garment, impelled them slowly but 
surely toward the coast. Their aged sire, the tradition 
continues, suddenly seized with prophetic inspiration, ex- 
claimed, ' The future is unfolded to my view ! Art is 
advancing to perfection ! My children, you have dis- 
covered a powerful agent in navigation. All nations will 
cover the ocean with their fleets and wander to distant 
regions. Men, differing in their manners and separated 
by seas, will disembark upon peaceful shores, and import 
thence foreign science, superfluities, and art. Then shall 
the mariner fearlessly cruise over the immense abvss and 
discover new lands and imknown seas ! ' Though we 
may admire the foresight of this patriarch, we cannot ap- 
plaud him for choosing a moment so inopportune for ex- 



20Z LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON-. 

ercising his peculiar gift: it would certainly have been 
more natural to afford some comfort to his weather- 
])eaten children. The legend even goes on to state that 
lie at once fixed a pole in the middle of the canoe, and at- 
taching to it a piece of cloth, invented the first sail-boat. 
Mythology assigns a different, though similar, origin to 
the invention — Iris, seeking her son in a bark which she 
impelled by oars, perceived that the wind inflated iier 
garments and gently forced her in the direction in which 
she was going." 

The experience of the Ericsson family when steam i 
was introduced into navigation, was mentioned. But | 
you may way wish to know more of the man next to - 
whom stands the great American Swede in the annals of , 
steam to the present time, and in the progress of naval 
science. Robert Fulton was born nearly forty years be- -^ 
fore John Ericsson, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 
Like the miner-boy, he showed in childhood a taste and^ 
genius for mechanics. But he chose the artist's more, 
beautiful work, and became a portrait painter.' He trav- t--- 
elled in England and France, and while in the empire of 
the great Napoleon, he conceived a vessel which would 
sail by steam instead of canvas and the wind. It is a j 
curious fact that he should offer his invention to the Em- j 
peror to meet Avith indifference, and Ericsson, more than | 
fifty years later, sent a model of his Monitor, with a like \ t~ 
result, to Napoleon HI. ! Fulton returned to the young 



LITE OF JOHN EKICSSOiSr. 283 

Republic in December, 1806. " His mind was now occu- 
pied with, two projects — ^the invention of submarine explo- 
sives and the construction of a steamboat. He published 
a work entitled ' Torpedo War,' with the motto, ' The 
liberty of the seas will be the happiness of the earth.' 
He renewed his acquaintance with Chancellor Livingston, 
wbom he had knoAvn when ambassador to Paris. This 
gentleman had long had entire faith in the practicability 
of steam-navigation, and as early as 1798 had obtained 
from the Legislature of New York a monopoly of all such 
navigation upon the waters of the State, provided he 
would within twelve months build a boat which should 
go four miles an hour by steam. "When they met in 
America, in 1806, the two entered into a partnership and 
commenced the construction of a boat. Finding the ex- 
penses unexpectedly heavy, they offered to sell one-third 
of their patent ; but no one would invest in an enterprise 
universally deemed hopeless. The boat was nevertheless 
launched, in the spring of 1807, from the shipyard of 
Charles Brown, on the East River. She was supplied 
with an engine built in England, and was driven by 
steam, in August, from the New York side to the Jersey 
shore. The incredulous crowd who had assembled to 
laugh stayed to wonder and applaud. 

" The Clermont soon after sailed for Albany, her de- 
parture having been announced in the newspapers aii a 
grand and unequalled curiosity. ' She excited,' says 



38^ LIFE OF JOHN ESICSSOF. 

Golden, in his Life of Fulton, ' the astonishment of the 
inhabitants of the shores of the Hudson, many of whom 
had not heard even of an engine, much less of a steam- 
boat. There were many descriptions of the effects of her 
fii-.jt appearance upon the people of the bank of the river : 
some of these were ridiculous, but some of them were of 
such a character as nothing but an object of real grandeur 
could have excited. She was described, by some who 
had indistinctly seen her passing in the night, as a monster 
moving on the waters, defying the winds and tide, and 
breathing flames and smoke. She had the most terrific 
appearance from other vessels which were navigating the 
river when she was making her passage. The first steam- 
boat — as others yet do — used dry pine wood for fuel, 
which sends forth a column of ignited vapor many feet 
above the flue, and whenever the fire is stirred a galaxy 
of sparks fly off, and in the night have a very brilliant 
and beautiful appearance. This uncommon light first at- 
tracted the attention of the crev.^s of other vessels. Not- 
withstanding the wind and tide, which were adverse to its 
approach, they saw with astonishment that it was rapidly 
coniiug toward them ; and when it came so near that the 
noise of the machinery and paddles was heard, the crews 
— if what was said in the newspapers of the time be true — ■ 
in some instances shrunk beneath their decks from the ter- 
rific sight and left their vessels to go on shore, whilst others 
prostrated themselves and besought Providence to protect 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 283 

them from the approaches of the horrible monster which 
was marching on the tide and lighting its path hj the firea 
which it vomited.' " 

You will foUow with interest the liistory of this first 
steamer — a craft which, beside the Princeton or Dictator, 
would look like the work of the ancients, or of the half- 
civilized Chinamen. The happy inventor thus writes of 
his excursion up the glorious Hudson : "I left New York 
on Monday at one o'clock, and arrived at Clermont, the 
seat of Chancellor Livingston, at one o'clock on Tuesday : 
time, twenty-four hours ; distance, one hundred and ten 
miles. On Wednesday, I departed from the chancellor's 
at nine in the morning, and arrived at Albany at five in 
the afternoon : time, eight hours ; distance, forty miles. 
The sum is one hundred and fifty miles in thirty-two 
hours — equal to near five miles an hour. 

" On Thursday, at nine o'clock in the morning, I left 
Albany, and arrived at the chancellor's at six in the even- 
ing : I started from thence at seven, and arrived at New 
York at four in the afternoon : time, thirty hours ; space 
run through, one hundred and fifty mUes — equal to five 
r.iil^s an hour. Throughout my whole way, both going 
and retm'uing, the wind was ahead : no advantage could 
be derived from my sail : the whole has therefore been 
performed by the power of the steam engine. 

" In a letter to one of his friends, Fulton wrote : ' I 
overtook many sloops and schooners beating to windward, 



28b LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 

and parted witli tliem as if tliey had been at anchor. The 
power of propelling boats by steam is now fully proved. 
The morning I left New York there were not perhaps 
thirty persons who believed that the boat would even 
move one mile an hour, or be of the least utility ; and 
while we were putting off from the wharf, which was 
crowded with spectators, I heard a number of sarcastic 
remarks. This is the way in which ignorant men com- 
pliment what they call philosophers and projectors. , . . 
Although the prospect of personal emolument has been 
some inducement to me, yet I feel infinitely more pleasure 
in reflecting on the immense advantage that my country 
will derive from the invention.' 

" The Clermont was now advertised as a regular pas- 
senger-boat upon the Hudson. She met with numerous 
accidents during the season ; and her obvious defects 
vpould have been remedied by the application of as obvi- 
ous improvements by Fulton himself, had not other per- 
sons anticipated him by taking out patents for improve 
ments which they themselves proposed. They thus caused 
him infinite annoyance, and even contested his right as an 
inventor. Shipmasters, too, who looked upon his boat as 
an intruder upon their domain, ran their vessels purposely 
foul of her on more than one occasion. The Legislature 
saw fit to counteract the effects of this hostility by passing 
an act prolonging Livingston and Fulton's privilege five 
years for every additional boat established — the whole 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 287 

time, however, not to exceed thirty years. It also made 
all combinations to destroy the Clermont offences punish- 
able by fine and imprisonment. 

" Thus protected, the Clermont ran throughout the 
season, always well laden Avith passengers. In the winter 
she was enlarged and improved. The wheel-guards were 
strengthened, and became a prominent and essential feat- 
ure of the boat. The rudder was replaced by one of 
much larger dimensions, and a steering-wheel toward 
the bow T/as substituted for the ordinary tiller. The ac- 
commodations for passengers were made much more com- 
fortable — ^luxurious even — and the public taste was con- 
sulted in the application of numerous coats of rather 
gaudy paint. She then commenced her trips for the 
season of 1808. She started regularly at the appointed 
hour — at first much to the discontent of travellers who 
had before been waited for by both sloops and stages. 
At the end of the season the Clermont was altogether too 
small for the crowds who thronged to take passage. Two 
boats, the Car of Neptune and the Paragon, were there- 
fore soon added to the line. 

" Fulton, menaced by constant contestation of his 
rights, took out a patent in 1809 from the General Gov- 
ernment, and another, for improvements, in 1811. His 
system was so simple — the adaptation of paddle-wheels 
to the axle of the crank of Watt's engine— that it seemed 
then, as it has proved since, almost impossible by any 



255 LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 

specifications effectually to protect it. The famous Pen- 
dulum Company caused Fulton for a time much trouble. 
They built a boat, the wheels of which were to be moved 
by a pendulum. While she was upon the stocks and the 
wheels were resisted only by the air, the labor of a few 
men made them turn regularly and rapidly ; but when 
she was launched, and the pendulum encountered the re- 
[ sistance of the water, neither pendulum, wheels, nor boat 
would stir. Tlie Pendulum Company were aghast at this 
j phenomenon, and clearly saw that if the boat was to be 
I moved by the wheels, and the wheels by the pendulum, 
something must be devised of sufficient power to move 
the pendulum. There was nothing, evidently, but the 
I steam engine ; and so they copied Fulton's. Lawsuits 
I followed ; and in his argument in behalf of Fulton Mr. 
^ Emmet thus spoke of the Pendulum gentlemen : ' They 
K are men who never waste health and life in midnight 
f ^\ vigils and painful study ; who never dream of science ia 
f/ ! the broken slumbers of an exhausted mind ; who bestow 
Y upon the construction of a steamboat just as much math 
! ematical calculation and philosophical research as on the 
j purchase of a sack of wheat or a barrel of ashes.' Ful- 
i ton gained his cause, and the boat which was to go bj 

clock-work was prohibited from going even by steam. 
1 In 1812, Fulton built the Fire-Fly ; and, as the town 

of Newburg, half-way to Albany, offered sufficient traffic 
1 to support at least one boat, she was placed upon that 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 2S'3 

route. In the same year he constructed two ferry-boats 
for crossing the Hudson, making them with rudder and 
how at either end. He also contrived floating docks for 
their reception, and a method of stopping them without 
concussion. In 1813, he built a steam-vessel of four hdn- 
dred tons and unusual strength, to ply in Long Island 
Sound between New York and New Haven. She was 
the first steamboat constructed with a round bottom. We 
quote a passage referring to her from a work published 
in 1817 : ' During a great part of her route she would be 
as much exposed as she could be on the ocean : it was 
therefore necessary to make her a perfect sea-boat. She 
passes daily, and at all times of the tide, the dangerous 
strait of Hell-Gate, where for the distance of nearly a 
■ mile she often encounters a current running at the rate 
of at least six miles an hour. For some distance she has 
within a few yards of her, on each side, rocks and whirl- 
pools which rival Scylla and Charybdis even as they are 
poetically described. This passage, previously to its 
being navigated by this vessel, was ahvays supposed to 
be impassable except at certain stages of the tide ; and 
many a shipwreck has been occasioned by a small mis- 
take in the time. The boat passing through these whirl- 
pools with rapidity, while the angry waters are foaming 
against her bows and appear to raise themselves in obsti- 
nate resistance to her passage, is a proud triumph of hu- 
man ingenuity. The owners, as the highest tribute they 
.1^ ' 



290 LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSOST. 

had in their po-vver to offer to his genius, and as an evi- 
dence of the gratitude they owed him, called her the 
Fulton. 

" Early in 1814, the United States and England being 
at war, Fulton conceived the idea of a steam vessel-of- 
war, capable of carrying a strong battery, with furnaces 
for redhot shot, and sailing four mUes an hour. Congress 
authorized the construction of such a floating battery, and 
the keel Avas laid on the 18th of June. The vessel was 
launched on the 27th of October the same year, in the 
midst of excited and applauding throngs. Before she 
sailed, however, her engineer and builder had been re- 
moved to another sphere : Fulton died on the 24th of 
February, 1815. The Legislature paid an .unusual 
tribute to his memory : they resolved to wear mourning 
for three weeks. This manifestation of regret for the 
loss of a man who had never held office nor served his 
country in any public capacity, was entirely unpre- 
cedented. 

" On the 4th of July, the steam frigate made a trial 
trip, and, with her engines alone, sailed fifty-three miles 
in eight hours and twenty minutes. The following de- 
scription of the Fulton the First, as she was called, is 
given by the committee appointed to examine her in 
behalf of Congress : ' She is a structure resting on two 
boats and keels separated from end to end by a channel 
fifteen feet wide and sixty-six feet long. One boat con- 



LIFE OF JOHiJ EKICSSON. 291 

tains the caldrons of copper to prepare lier steam ; the 
cylinder of iron, its piston, lever, and wheels, occupy part 
of the other. The water-wheel revolves in the space be- 
tween them. The main or gun deck supports the arma- 
ment, and is protected by a . parapet, four feet ten inches 
thick, of solid timber, pierced by embrasures. Through 
thirty portholes as many thirty-two pounders are intended 
to fire redhot shot, which can be heated with great safety 
and convenience. Her upper or spar deck, upon which 
several thousand men might parade, is encompassed by a 
bulwark, wliich affords safe quarters : she is rigged with 
two stout masts, each of which supports a large lateen 
yard and sails : she has two bowsprits and jibs, and four 
rudders, one at each extremity of each boat, so that she 
can be steered with either end foremost : her machinery 
is calculated for the addition of an engine which will dis- 
charge an immense column of water, which it is intended 
to throw upon the decks and through the portholes of an 
enemy, and thereby deluge her armament and ammunition. 
If in addition to all this we suppose her to be furnished, 
according to Mr. Fulton's intention, with hundred-pound 
C lumbiads, two suspended from each bow so as to dis- 
charge a baU of that size into an enemy's ship ten or 
twelve feet below her water-line, it must be allowed that 
she has the appearance, at least, of being the most for- 
midable engine for warfare that human ingenuity has 
contrived.' 



292 LIFE OF JOHiSr EKICSSOK. 

"• Such was the first step toward the establishment of a 
steaui-uavy. Forty years afterwards, George Steers built 
the propeller-frigate Niagara ; and the i-eader, by compar- 
ing the two vessels, will have an adequate idea of the 
immense strides made in naval mechanics and engineer- 
ing during the lapse of less than half a centmy. In 
Europe the size and qualities of the Fulton the First were 
at the time ludicrously exaggerated, as Avill be seen from 
the following passage from a Scotch treatise on steam- 
ships. After magnifying her proportions threefold, the 
autlior continues : 'The thickness of her sides is thirteen 
feet of alternate oak plank and cork wood ; she carries 
forty-four guns, four of which are hundred-pounders ; 
quarter-deck and forecastle guns, forty-four pounders : 
and, further to annoy an enemy attempting to board, can 
discharge one hundred gallons of boiling water in a min- 
ute, and, by mechanism, brandishes three hundred "cut- 
-glasses with the utmost regularity over her gunwales, 
works also an equal number of heavy iron spikes of great 
length, darting them from her sides with prodigious force 
and withdrawing them every quarter of a minute ! ' " 

We cannot look into the future of our country on land 
or on the sea ; but whatever progress in naval affaii's we 
jnay make, it is quite certain that some of Captain Erics- 
son's inventions will never be essentially improved, nor 
supplanted by other creations of genius. The propellei 
is preeminent among them. 



LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 29S 

It is not improbable tliat he will yet so perfect the 
Moaitoro, that for warfare and defence they will have no 
rivals while the ocean is darkened v/ith the smoke of 
battle. 

While you read of the vast armies and great battles 
of the present war, you may have forgotten, if you ever 
read in ancient history, what immense armies met in 
battle on land and sea centuries ago, and how they 
fought. 

Sennacherib, the Bible tells us, lost in a single night 
185,000 men by the destroying angel. 

The city of Thebes had a hundred gates, and could 
send out at each gate 10,000 fighting men and 200 
chariots— in all 1,000,000 men and 20,000 chariots. 

The army of Terrah, king of Ethiopia, consisted of 
1,000,000 men and 300 chariots of war. 

Sesostris, king of Egypt, led against his enemies 
000,000 men, 24,000 cavalry, and 27 scythe-armocl. , 
chariots — 149-1 c. c. 

Hamilcar went from Ciirthage and landed near Pa- 
lermo. He had a fleet of 2,000 ships and 3,000 small 
vessels, and a land force of 200,000 men. At the battle 
at which he was defeated 150,000 were slain. 

Ninus, the Assyrian king, about 2,200 years b. c, led 
against the Bactrians an army of 1,?U0. 000 horses, and 
C,000 chariots armed with scythes. 

Semiramis employed 2,000,000 men in building Baby- 



29i 



LIFE OS' JOHN ESIOSGON. 



Ion. She took 105,000 prisoners at the Indus, and sank 
1,000 boats. 

A short time after the taking of Babylon, the forces 
of Cyprus consisted of 600,000 foot and 120,000 horses, 
and 2,000 chariots armed Avith scythes. 

An army of Cambyses, 50,000 strong, was buried up 
in the desert sands of Africa, by the south wind. 

"When Xerxes arrived at Thermopylae, his land and 
sea forces amounted to 2,614,610, exclusive of servants, 
eunuchs, women, sutlers, &c., in all numbering 5,282,220. 
80 say Herodotus, Plutarch, and Isocrates. 

The army of Artaxerxes, before the battle of Conoxa, 
amounted to 1,200,000. 10,000 horses and 100,000 foot 
fell in the fatal field of Issus. 

When Jerusalem was taken by Titus, 1,000,000 men 
perished in various ways. 

The arrny of Tamerlane is said to have amounted 
to 1,600,000, and that of his antagonist, Bajazet, to 
1,000,000.. 

But the navies referred to -svere rude enough com- 
pared with our large, beautiful, and formidable ships of 
:ar. And no powder-smoke covered the contending 
losts — no shells screamed through the air, scattering 
human limbs on every side. 

Oh ! we should devoutly hope and pray that the re- 
ligion of the Cross may soon banish these scenes from 
the earth, and furnish peaceful employm.eut only to genius 



^] 



f- 



LIFE OF JOHN ERICSSON. 295 

/ like that of Ericsson — covering our seas with the \A-hita 
j wings of ships beai'ing messengers of God's love and 
\ mercy, and the products of climes under the sceptre of a 
/ King, whose reign is the liighest, purest freedom for man- 
kind. Then will the " mournful numbers" of the follow- 
ing touching lament no more be heard in our land : 

A MOTHER'S STORY. 

BY EUGENE H. MUNDAT. 

Amid the throng that gathers where 

The mail dispenses joy and care, 

I saw a woeful woman stand — 

A letter falling from her hand : 

She spoke no word, she breathed no sigh ; 

Her bloodless cheek, her sad, fixed eye, 

And pallid, quivering lips apart. 

Showed hopeless grief had seized her heart. 

I spoke ; a word of kindness cheers 

The heavy heart, and heaven-sent tears 

Refresh the eye dry sorrow sears. 

"Ah ! sir, my boy ! my brave, bright boy ! " 

In broken voice, she said ; 
" My only son ! my only joy ! 

My brave, bright boy is dead ! " 

" Sorrow is sacred ! " and the eye 
That looks on grief is seldom dry : 
I Ustened to her piteous moan. 
Then followed to her dwelling lone, 



296 LIFE OF JOHN EKICSSON. 

Where, sheltered from the biting cold, 
She thus her shnple story told : 

" My grandfather, sir, for freedom died. 
On Eutaw's bloody plain ; 
My father left his youthful bride, 
And full at Lundy's Lane. 

" And when my boy, with burning brow, 
Told of the nation's shame — 
How Sumter fell — oh ! how, sir, how 
Could blood like mine be tame ! 

*' I blessed him ; and I bade him go — 
Bade him our honor keep ; 
He proudly went to meet the foe ; 
Left me to pray and weep. 

" In camp — on march — of picket round- 
He did his equal share ; 
And still the call to battle found 
My brave boy always there. 

" And when the fleet was all prepared 
To sail upon the main. 
He all his comrades' feelings shared — 
But fever scorched his braia ! 

" He told the general he would ne'er 
From toil or danger shrink, 
But, though the waves he did not fear. 
It chilled his heart to thmk 



LIFE OF JOHN EEICSSON. 297 

" How drear the flowerless grave must be, 
Beneath the ocean's foam, 
And that he knew 'twould comfort me 
To have him die at home. 

" They tell me that the general's eye 
With tears did overflow : 
God bless the brave man ! with a sigh 
He gave him leave to go. 

" Quick down the vessel's side came he ; 
Joy seemed to kill his pain ; 
' Comrades ! ' he cried, ' I yet shall see 
My mother's face again ! ' 

" The boat came bounding o'er the tide ; 
He sprang upon the strand ; 
God's will be done ! my bright boy died. 
His furlough in his hand 1 " 

Ye, who this artless story read. 
If Pity in your bosoms plead — 

xind " Heaven has blessed your store "— 
If broken-hearted woman meek, 
Can win ycur sympathy — go, seek 

That childless widow's door ! 



THE END. 



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